Oliver Bearman may be British, but he’s so Ferrari that he’s now admitted he wanted the icon to fail while at Mercedes.
Bearman is racing for Haas at this weekend’s British Grand Prix – his first outing at Silverstone as a Formula 1 driver.
Bearman is the latest British star to enter F1 and there’s hope he could make it to the topGetty Although he’s desperate to do it in Ferrari red, unlike Hamilton’s Mercedes successAFPA Ferrari junior, the rookie had three substitute F1 appearances in the past two years, one of which was with the Scuderia, becoming the first Brit to line up for them since Eddie Irvine in 1999.
Hamilton has since joined the ranks, but for Bearman, he should’ve done it far earlier if he wanted his support.
The 40-year-old legend won six of his seven titles at Mercedes – a record driver-team partnership, yet when he was at his pomp Bearman was rooting for the enemy.
Asked about his first experience of Silverstone, the 20-year-old revealed it was as a 10-year-old fan.
“I’m just starting so I don’t know how it feels to race at home yet,” he told the media, including talkSPORT.com at the British Grand Prix.
“My first time at Silverstone was in 2015 for the Grand Prix – exactly ten years ago – and I was one of the people in the crowd.
“Now to be one of the people on the track making people so happy and united is a really incredible feeling and I’m really happy to be racing in the UK.”
Bearman was in a crowd full of happy Brits at that 2015 race as Hamilton won his third of a record nine home Grand Prix.
Yet, rather amusingly, the Ferrari driver wasn’t one of them.
“I was cheering for [Sebastian] Vettel,” he said of his support for the German Ferrari driver who finished third in the championship that year.
Hamilton recorded the home win in 2015, but Bearman claims you can hear him chanting for Vettel on the tapeGettyHe then added: “If you hear the podium ceremony, you can hear a little kid shouting ‘Ferrari!’ and it was me! Lewis won but Vettel was third on the podium.”
Bearman already impressed in F1 circles before making his full-time debut when he subbed in for Carlos Sainz in Saudi Arabia in 2024.
Having never driven an F1 car in anger before, he qualified 11th and then finished seventh at the fastest circuit of the season.
This season with Haas the 20-year-old recorded three straight points finishes from March to April, but has been pointless since, with his six overall far fewer than teammate Esteban Ocon’s 23.
Yet Bearman is still rated as one of the best rookies on the grid, with Red Bull head of driver development Helmut Marko calling him ‘outstanding’ and ‘sensational’ when it comes to outright pace.
However, despite the London-born talent racing at home for the first time, he’s happy to report that the pressure will slightly be off, at least when it comes to his family.
Some think Bearman could be the best from the new crop of rookiesGetty And he joins and incredible crop of British born talent, as the standings showYounger brother Thomas won his first Formula 4 race last time out in Oulton Park, and will be competing in the feeder series at Silverstone this weekend.
Bearman said of the family affair: “It was really really nice to see and now he gets to race the British GP so I’m not the centre of attention, it’s spread about and it’s going to be really nice.
“The only thing I don’t envy him for is the early start, I think he has to be at the track at 6am.
“I’m really looking forward to it for him, we were on the sim together a little bit and I was giving him a few tips and I think he has the highest chance out of us two of scoring a podium this weekend…”
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