Steiner identifies Bearman RISK for F1 drive
Steiner identifies Bearman RISK for F1 drive
Former Haas team principal Guenther Steiner had high praise for Oliver Bearman after his impressive debut in F1 in Saudi Arabia.
Steiner has previously worked with Bearman, after the Brit took part in FP1 in Mexico and Abu Dhabi last season with the American team.
READ MORE: Ferrari chief REVEALS Bearman F1 Australian Grand Prix role
The 18-year-old is Haas’ reverse driver for the 2024 season as well as Ferrari, and it was with the latter where he would make his debut in the sport replacing Carlos Sainz, after the Spaniard was diagnosed with appendicitis.
Despite having only one practice session to get used to F1 machinery, Bearman narrowly missed out of Q3 and went on to finish the race in seventh, beating fellow compatriots Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton.
Steiner: I'd put Bearman in a seat
Writing in his first column on the official F1 website, Steiner was impressive by the teenager’s performance, but was not surprised by it having worked with him closely.
“Coming in to replace Carlos at the last minute – that was a lot of pressure on him,” he said. “Let’s not forget, he was on pole for the F2 race – he was already excited about that – and then getting the news he had to replace Carlos the next day must have been a lot to deal with. But you wouldn’t have known. He was very cool throughout.
“Jeddah is a one of the toughest tracks on the calendar, it isn’t easy there. If you make a mistake they are normally very costly. He did a good job – and obviously teams will be looking at him.
“When he drove in FP1 for us, I never feared he’d do something you wouldn’t expect. He was always in control. He did the same in Saudi Arabia. Was I surprised by what he did in Jeddah? No. I had faith he could do that.
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“I think he has a good future in the sport. He just needs to stay calm and I have no doubt he will do that.”
Steiner, who was replaced as team principal at Haas by Ayao Komatsu, then urged his successor and the other team bosses to take a look at Bearman for next season.
“Based on his performance in Jeddah, after what I saw from him at Haas, I’d put him in a race seat,” said the Italian. “Obviously, it depends on the circumstances and what seats are available. You need to see the whole landscape, but he would be a candidate.
“Obviously, it is not 100% that he will succeed. It’s still a risk. But the way he handled himself in qualifying and the race in Jeddah, having just had one hour of practice, suggests the risk is so much smaller.”
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F1 Standings
Drivers
- Oliver Bearman
- Charles Leclerc
- Carlos Sainz
- Lando Norris
- Oscar Piastri
- Pierre Gasly
- Esteban Ocon
- Sergio Pérez
- Max Verstappen
- Alexander Albon
- Logan Sargeant
- Lewis Hamilton
- George Russell
- Nico Hülkenberg
- Kevin Magnussen
- Fernando Alonso
- Lance Stroll
- Valtteri Bottas
- Zhou Guanyu
- Daniel Ricciardo
- Yuki Tsunoda
Races
- Gulf Air Grand Prix of Bahrain 2024
- Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Australia 2024
- MSC Cruises Grand Prix of Japan 2024
- Grand Prix of China 2024
- Miami Grand Prix 2024
- Gran Premio dell'Emilia Romagna 2024
- Grand Prix of Monaco 2024
- Grand Prix du Canada 2024
- Gran Premio de España 2024
- Grand Prix of Austria 2024
- Grand Prix of Great Britain 2024
- Grand Prix of Hungary 2024
- Grand Prix of Belgium 2024
- Heineken Dutch Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Italy 2024
- Grand Prix of Azerbaijan 2024
- Grand Prix of Singapore 2024
- Grand Prix of the United States 2024
- Gran Premio de la Ciudad de Mexico 2024
- Grande Prêmio de São Paulo 2024
- Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix 2024
- Qatar Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi 2024
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