F1: "Physically it was a really difficult race," says Oliver Bearman after Saudi Arabian GP
Mar 10, 2024
Jeddah [Saudi Arabia], March 10 : After the end of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Scuderia Ferrari reserve driver Oliver Bearman expressed that it was a "difficult" race at Jeddah Corniche Circuit.
Just hours before the Saudi Arabian GP, Ferrari confirmed that their Spanish Formula One driver, Carlos Sainz, has been diagnosed with appendicitis and has to undergo surgery. Which gave Bearman a chance to make his Formula One debut at the age of 18 years.
After the end of the race on Saturday, Bearman said that he was "destroyed" in a difficult race.
The British driver added that the race at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit was "mentally" difficult. Even though the youngster was physically struggling, he accepted that it was "great fun" to drive on Saturday.
"Destroyed. Physically it was a really difficult race! Especially in the end, when I had the two guys on soft behind me, I had to basically push flat out and it was a mentally difficult race as expected, and physically I was struggling too, but great fun out there," Bearman was quoted by Formula One's official website as saying.
He added that he was a bit "quicker" than two-time world champion Fernando Alonso and Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team driver George Russell but failed to overtake them since the gap was "pretty big".
"I think I put in a good showing for myself, which is the main thing right? It's difficult circumstances, not a lot of laps on track, but I think I maximised everything today. I felt like I was a bit quicker than [Fernando] Alonso and [George] Russell in front, but not enough to catch, the gap was pretty big," he added.
After finishing in the seventh place, he added that his lower back and neck were "hurting".
"I think especially my lower back and my neck, it's hurting. These seats take a bit of fine-tuning, and as this is the first race, we didn't really have time to focus on that," he added.
Bearman started the Saudi GP from 11th place on the grid but made his place in the top 10 after making a few overtakes on Yuki Tsunoda and Nico Hulkenberg. As the race went on, Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton put pressure on the youngster but he handled them calmly to finish in the seventh place and bag six points.
