Oliver Bearman has revealed that Sebastian Vettel texted him before his debut in the recent Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, where he finished in a staggering seventh position.
The Prema F2 driver was thrown into the deep end at Ferrari ahead of third practice, following confirmation that Carlos Sainz had been transported to hospital to undergo an appendectomy.
Bearman excelled in the SF24 at one of the most challenging circuits on the calendar, and remarkably finished ahead of both Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton completely on merit.
He was starstruck to be sharing the circuit with such legends of the sport and was just as stunned to receive a text message both before and after the race from one of his idols.
"It was crazy," Bearman told the official F1 website.
“To share the track with people like Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton and receive a lovely text message from Seb before the race.
“I grew up watching these guys in 2010, 2011 and 2012 so to get the recognition was a real pinch yourself moment. I replied [to Vettel] that I’m a big fan – I was a bit of a fanboy there!
“I was a huge supporter of Seb when he was at Ferrari and when he was at Aston. After the race, he said I did a good job and I should be proud.”
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'I'm a perfectionist'
Back in Saudi Arabia, Bearman was just 0.036s away from knocking Hamilton out of qualifying.
Instead, it was the young driver who was eliminated in Q2 on his debut. Despite it having been his first F1 qualifying, Bearman was critical of himself afterwards.
“I’m a perfectionist in a lot of things – but I’m not very tidy,” Bearman said.
“My hotel room at the moment doesn’t scream perfectionist! But in terms of my sport and passion, I feel like I’m perfectionist. I get that from my dad – he demands more out of himself, and as a result, I do that.”
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