Bearman disappointed by narrow Q2 exit after being “shocked” by F1 grip

Ferrari substitute driver Oliver Bearmanadmits he was disappointed to be knocked out of Q2 in his debut qualifying session.

Bearman, who yesterday took pole position for Saturday’s Formula 2 feature race at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, had just a single practice session to familiarise himself with Ferrari’s new F1 car before heading into qualifying. He missed out on Q3 by three-hundredths of a second and will start his debut grand prix from 11th place.

“I woke up preparing and mentally thinking about my F2 race where I was going to be starting P10 [on the reverse grid],” Bearman told Sky. “And then I got chucked in the deep end for an FP3 and qualifying.

“Of course it’s not the kind of ideal situation. I feel really sorry for Carlos and wish him the best. But it’s a fantastic opportunity. I’m a bit disappointed with everything, but it was a fun day out there.”

Despite enjoying the unexpected opportunity to make his first appearance in a Formula 1 qualifying session, Bearman admitted he was not fully satisfied with his performance.

“At the moment, I’m not so proud,” he said.” The racer in me knows the car was quick enough to be in Q3, so a bit disappointed with that.

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“But I think when I look back in a couple of days, I’ll be quite proud of what I’ve managed to do today.”

Despite having driven Formula 1 cars on multiple occasions, including Ferrari’s 2022 SF-75 designed for the current era of ‘ground effect’ regulations, Bearman was stunned by how much grip he had compared to Formula 2.

“We do the qualifying in F2 quite early on in the weekend, so the track develops quite a lot,” he said. “But the grip level is just incredible.

“After my first lap, I was shocked. In F2, you kind of drive at the limit of the car and in F1 it’s the limit of the driver – it’s what the drivers are prepared to do. And that’s a great feeling, but it takes some time to get used to.”

Heading into his grand prix debut on Saturday, Bearman says he is only focused on getting the car to the finish of the race and learning valuable lesson.

“Just bring the car back, try and get some points – that would be a bonus,” he said. “But build up my mileage, get some experience.

“It’s my first race, so I can’t expect much. And this is a really difficult track as well.”

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