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helmut marko on oliver bearman and ferrari dilemma

Ferrari got themselves into trouble with Bearman, according to Marko

12 March at 09:45
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  • Kada Sarkozi
  • Editor

Oliver Bearman may not be a Red Bull junior, but Helmut Marko enjoyed the performances of the still only 18-year-old Briton at the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix. At the same time, he marvelled at Ferrari's choice to commit Lewis Hamilton for the foreseeable future.

"I thought Ollie Bearman's debut in the Ferrari was sensational," Marko believes in his column for Speedweek.com. Indeed, debuting in Saudi Arabia is not exactly easy. "To drive like that at a circuit like Jeddah without much training is really strong. At times he was almost driving at the level of Charles Leclerc."

Bearman's strong performance does raise another question: what will Ferrari do next? "They are buying the expensive Hamilton, Leclerc has a long-term contract and Bearman is a super talent," said Marko, who has advice for the Italian superpower's team principal. "If I were Fred Vasseur, I would immediately look for an F1 cockpit for Bearman at another team, I don't know, at Haas for example. Now they have to spend more money to train him. Teams are relatively financially saturated at the moment, that will cost them dearly."

Where should Bearman go?

By this Marko means that Ferrari can no longer say to a team: 'here you have x number of million and then put in Bearman in your car'. For teams with financial problems, this used to want to work, but this is no longer an issue, according to Marko.

Indeed, at the moment, Haas F1 seems the most logical choice, as the US-based racing stable has close ties with Ferrari. If he ends up driving for Gene Haas' team, Bearman can simply remain a Ferrari junior and could eventually replace Hamilton or Leclerc. If he goes to another team, ties with Ferrari will most likely be severed. They are obviously not waiting for that in Maranello.