'I am more excited about Bearman in the medium term'

The 19-year-old driver expected to spend the whole of the 2024 season driving for Prema in F2 alongside Andrea Kimi Antonelli, hoping another great season in the junior formula would give him a chance to be considered for F1. However, after Carlos Sainz was forced to sit out of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix with appendicitis, Bearman was the first-choice replacement, and he did not disappoint. With little to no preparation, he jumped in Sainz's car and qualified in P11, which he turned into a brilliant P7 finish.

It was a stunning performance from the Brit, but it was a performance that showed his talent and ability, as well as some FP1 sessions for Haas throughout the season. But when Kevin Magnussen was forced to miss the Azerbaijan Grand Prix due to a race ban, it was Bearman who took his place, and once again, with minimal preparation, it was a super performance. After qualifying in P11 once again, he took the Haas to P10, earning yet more points in just his second F1 race.

Bearman will be a 'slow burner' despite his fantastic start

However, despite the lightning-quick start that the 19-year-old has had to F1, former race engineer Clear believes that the best is yet to come for Bearman: "Ironically, I would say Ollie is a bit of a slow burner. I would say Ollie is not someone who is going to go bang. And that is why I am even more excited about him in the medium term than I am in the short term.

"I think there are drivers out there who can arrive and bang, they can deal with everything straight away in terms of the pressure, in terms of what they have to do with handling the car, and there are others who are slow burners," the British engineer continued.

Bearman is not the only rookie driver to come and settle into F1 extremely quickly. After Logan Sargeant was replaced at Williams, Franco Colapinto substituted in the American, and the Argentine has taken to F1 just as well as Bearman. Colapinto has found just as much pace as teammate Alex Albon in the other Williams, despite limited real-time preparation.

But why have both Bearman and Colapinto settled into F1 with relative ease? Clear explained. "You think how on earth is it possible that Bearman can get in a car that he virtually hasn't driven, and then qualify P11 and race to P7 in his very first event, having never tested that car and not having those 27,00km of testing.

"I think the simulators now are very good, and that is a natural progression of the technology. The fidelity of simulators is at such a good level now, that what we have seen with Colapinto and Ollie is the result of that. When they get here [to F1], it's not alien to them. They know what to do with the tyres, and they know what to expect from circuits they have never driven at, as the virtual circuits that they drive on are so good," Clear concluded.

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