Following a spectacular debut at the 2024 Saudi Arabian FP, Scuderia Ferrari’s newest sensation Oliver Bearman became the ‘wishing well’ of everyone’s praise and applause in the F1 world. He earned further praise for his recent lap-logging with the Ferrari F1-75 at the Fiorano testing grounds.
However, recently Guenther Steiner–the former F1 Team Principal–has claimed that a short conversation with Bearman was enough to grasp the rookie’s true trait.
Guenther Steiner praises Ollie Bearman
Guenther Steiner, who is the former Team Principal of the Moneygram Haas F1 team, is still around in Formula 1 as a columnist for the official F1 site, and has just published his first feature article, admiring Scuderia Ferrari’s latest debutant- Ollie Bearman.
In his article, Steiner was full of praises for Ollie, who had a point-scoring debut at Jeddah, and kicked off his first piece, by penning, “Ollie Bearman did a very good job when he stood in for Carlos Sainz at Ferrari in Jeddah.”
“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. He was very cool throughout.”
“I never feared he’d do something you wouldn’t expect. He was always in control. Was I surprised by what he did in Jeddah? No. I had faith he could do that.”
“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 wrote.
In the column, Steiner also claimed that the 18-year-old is ready to take on a full-time seat in Formula 1, based on his performance at the Saudi GP, and what he saw while being the Team Principal at Haas.
Did Guenther Steiner guide Ollie Bearman during Hass stint?
Guenther Steiner, who was Haas’ Team Principal from 2016 to 2023, also revealed a past memory with Ollie Bearman, when the youngster drove for Haas in FP1 in Mexico and Abu Dhabi last year– as part of the commitment with Ferrari to run a young driver in at least two practice sessions.
Reflecting on their pre-practice ’10-minute’ conversation, Steiner started, by writing, “Before Ollie drove, I sat down with him, but not at length–we had maybe 10 minutes. I basically said, ‘Don’t overdo it.'”
“I never had the fear he would do something silly by trying to impress. He’s smart. Talking with him, I got the feeling very quickly that he knew what he needed to do. He was clearly not the kind of person who you ask him something and he says, ‘yes’ and thinks something different.”
“He understood he just needed do a good job, get the feeling of the car and bring it home-and that’s it. He realized his career was not depending on those FP1s. He had a bigger plan,” Steiner added.
“I was really impressed at how calm he is. He gives himself time, he’s in no hurry. Because he’s so young – 18 is nothing – he’s got time on his side. He’s in the Ferrari Driver Academy and he knows that if he does a good job, he has a good future in F1,” Steiner concluded.
Following their short conversation, Bearman took part in two FP1s for Haas–one in Mexico and the other in Abu Dhabi–where he had a run that is expected from someone driving Haas’ ‘unsatisfying’ F1 machine: a P15 spot at Mexico FP1, and a P20 finish at Abu Dhabi.
Guenther Steiner, along with the F1 crew, is now on his way to Melbourne for next weekend’s Australian GP, where Oliver Bearman is highly likely to take Ferrari’s #2 driving spot again.
Is Steiner right about giving Bearman a seat in some F1 team right away? If so, which team would be a perfect fit for him? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
