Barnstorming Bearman shows British F1 entering golden age

Formula 1 is one of Britain's sporting success stories, with the nation providing over 300 wins, 750 podiums, and 11,000 points since 1950.

That's some racing pedigree the history books have, yet in the wake of Ollie Bearman's surprise Saudi Arabian GP call-up, it looks like the country's F1 future is in good hands, too.

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Ten world champions have had the Union flag on their car, including Lewis Hamilton, Jackie Stewart, Nigel Mansell, Graham Hill, and Jenson Button.

Yet the four British representatives that finished the 50 tours of the Jeddah Corniche Circuit might be the best crop of co-existing drivers for the country in 75 seasons of F1.

British F1 in 2024: Cream of the crop

Bearman's performance speaks volumes of the quality in the junior ranks right now, where even the F2 champion doesn't even earn a graduation to an F1 seat, and the teenager looked at home among his silverware-laden compatriots.

Of course, Hamilton's shoulders carry so much in terms of British accomplishments, with his greatest-of-all-time records in wins, pole positions, and titles.

However, George Russell showed he can go toe-to-toe with and beat the seven-time champion in equal machinery, and would have a dozen or more victories had Toto Wolff promoted him sooner through his Williams tenure.

As with most on the grid, whether or not Russell could fight for a title comes down to the car underneath him, but he has repeatedly shown he can best the driver on the other side of the garage, no matter who it is - the prerequisite characteristic for any title bid.

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Meanwhile, Lando Norris is one of nine winless racers on the 2024 grid, but few would dispute his P1 credentials.

Rain and miscommunication prevented a 2021 Russian GP win, putting the team first in Italy that year allowed Daniel Ricciardo to win unchallenged, and six of his seven P2 finishes came in the back half of a 2023 where an RB19 always stood in his way (Singapore aside).

Shove any of this terrific trio in Max Verstappen's seat and I have no doubt that they would ease to a championship title, and that's not just because they'd have a Red Bull underneath them.

I believe Bearman showed he'd be challenging just as hard, too, not because of his stellar Saudi debut, but from watching his growth for years.

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Britain's F1 future

The feeder series world is brimming with potent prospects, of which Bearman is just the latest breakthrough, and looking at how well Liam Lawson did in his similarly unexpected call-up shows how wide the pipeline is.

Formula 2 2024 also has rookie Brits Zak O'Sullivan, the vice-champion of F3 2023, and Taylor Barnard, who did the equivalent of winning in a Haas last season at Spa.

O'Sullivan has the 2021 GB3 title behind him, the best national championship in Britain, and won the Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Award that year (over Bearman) for his efforts.

While O'Sullivan has had multiple seasons of Williams backing, McLaren soon snapped Barnard up after the Norwich-born 19-year-old worked wonders for Jenzer by becoming the highest-scoring driver in the team's history – beating Yuki Tsunoda's 2019 record.

And going further than the second tier, we find the F3 championship leader is another Brit, Williams' Luke Browning.

Browning stormed to victory at the iconic Macau GP in 2023, the feeder series world's equivalent to Monaco, and is highly thought of by James Vowles.

Arvid Lindblad has Red Bull backing, and the 16-year-old Brit is the youngest in the 30-driver F3 grid, yet still won the season-opening race in Bahrain on debut.

And that's not to mention 2023 GB3 champion Callum Voisin and BRDC young driver of the year victor Joseph Loake, each making the step into F3 this season, with the latter testing an Aston Martin later in the year.

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Britain's F1 track record

With all the blind patriotism and flag-waving enthusiasm in the world, every nation knows that some racers reach the top but have no business competing among the greats.

For some, their F1 stint becomes the springboard for a media or punditry career, and that's no insult.

Martin Brundle, Paul di Resta, Anthony Davidson, and Jolyon Palmer would openly admit that they were not class-of-the-field racers during their time at the pinnacle of motorsport.

Nonetheless, they're the ones who can provide the insight for the rest of us to understand a driver's mindset and provide insights into how a race weekend unfolds from behind the helmet.

For others, those with a year or two in the paddock never to be seen in the sport again, F1 is a high-water mark from whatever family funds or sponsorship deals that got them a drive in one of humanity's best-engineered machines.

Encouragingly for British fans, not only does 2024 boast arguably the best driver trio of Brits to share a grid, but Bearman is not alone in the junior ranks of future talent that look better than many Brits who have preceded them.

Multiple future stars could follow in the teenager's footsteps and step up to F1 in an equally impressive way; the sport just needs other openings outside of stars getting appendicitis for them to show their quality.

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