Oliver Bearman may be Ferrari's next driver

Who is Oliver Bearman?

As we said, Bearman was born in 2005. He is originally from Chelmsford, England, and started racing karts at the age of eight. After performing well in national and European karting championships, he entered Formula 4 in both the Italian and German championships at the age of fifteen. The following year (2021) he won both.

As a result of these performances, he entered the Ferrari Driver Academy and at the same time landed in Formula 3 with Prema, after having raced in Formula Regional with the affiliated team Mumbai Falcons. He ended his rookie season in third place overall, thus earning the jump to Formula 2.

Still at the wheel of Prema, in the first three rounds of the season - Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Australia - he had struggled, finishing only tenth in the feature race at Jeddah and seventh in the Australian sprint race. In Baku, however, it was a different story.

Baku triumph

The weekend of 30 April was perfect for the young Ferrari driver. He took the lead from Friday practice onwards, then confirmed it in qualifying, despite the damaged car. In the sprint race he was lucky, as no less than six cars went to the wall at the restart after a safety car, with Bearman coming through unscathed. However, the Briton then overtook his teammate Vesti to take the win.

On Sunday he was finally able to start at the front (in the sprint race the grid is reversed) and, apart from a fight with Theo Pourchaire, Bearman dominated the race, taking his first win in Formula 2. It was the crowning glory of a historic weekend, which also moved him up to fourth in the overall standings, and hoisted Prema to first in the constructors' standings.

A future in Ferrari?

With the Baku race, a new star truly seems to have been born. Bearman has just turned eighteen and is beginning to show very interesting qualities. This is excellent news for Ferrari, which has a talent in its midst.

In addition to Bearman, the Ferrari Driver Academy also includes names such as Schwartzman, Ferrari's current reserve driver, Dino Beganovic and Arthur Leclerc, brother of Charles. However, since the FDA has existed, i.e. since 2009, only one driver who has been a member has actually driven for Ferrari: Charles Leclerc. Others have made it to Formula 1, such as Perez, Zhou or Mick Schumacher, but had to go through other teams.

The question therefore arises as to whether Ferrari will have the patience and shrewdness to follow Bearman in his development and make the most of him, avoiding rejecting him too early or keeping him too much in the lower classes, risking him deciding to leave. The British boy is still young, but he is already showing he can compete in Formula 2, against drivers more experienced than him.

But who could make room for him at Ferrari? In recent weeks there have been rumours about a possible farewell for Charles Leclerc, destination Mercedes, and Sainz is also being talked about with a view to a transfer, in his case to Audi. The contracts of both drivers expire in 2024, i.e. at the end of next season. It would perhaps still be too early for Bearman, who would be 19 years old. An already more realistic time horizon could be 2026, the year when the new regulations come into force and Audi will also arrive.

One solution, also in order not to leave a talent 'parked' in the lower classes, would be to take advantage of existing collaborations with other teams, such as Haas and Alfa Romeo. This was done back in the day with Charles Leclerc, who began his career in Sauber, and is not by chance the only Ferrari Driver Academy driver to have completed his journey to the seat of the Rossa. Bearman could follow his example. And perhaps even take his place.