Short hair on the sides and a little disheveled on top;
clean and smiling look.
Looking at him carefully, when he takes off his helmet and gets out of his Ferrari in the pits on the Jeddah circuit, Oliver Bearman appears even younger than his 18th birthday on May 8th.
But those who know him well define him without problems as ready to drive a Formula 1 car because "he is predestined".
And fate actually kissed him: he replaced Carlos Sainz on the red one in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
The Spaniard had to undergo emergency surgery for appendicitis and therefore left his place to the young Englishman, third official driver of the Maranello team.
The young Briton's peers are at most newly licensed drivers who are prohibited by law from using large-engined cars.
Instead the Briton finds himself driving a 1600 horsepower Formula 1 single-seater.
The paradoxes of the circus which however allow everyone to dream.
On his debut in free practice Bearman set the tenth fastest time on the grid.
Not bad for a rookie.
But on the other hand, yesterday in Jeddah, he had won pole position in Formula 2. However, the Englishman will not be able to participate in the race as he is busy with Ferrari in Formula 1. In the "red" he arrived in 2021 thanks to the Ferrari Academy which you select the best talents around the world.
Born in Chelmsford, like many drivers he started with karting where he had a long career until 2019. In 2020 he participated in the Formula 4 championship in Germany, in 2021 he doubled his commitment by also participating in the Italian championship: he won both becoming the first driver to become champion in both in the same season.
Driving a Formula 1 single-seater he arrived for the first time in 2023, participating in two free practice sessions with the Ferrari-powered Haas.
Earlier this year he was made official as Ferrari's third driver.
Bearman, whose nickname is Ollie, is the youngest British driver to make his F1 debut.
He used the number 38 which had been used 12 times in the history of Ferrari: the first in 1950 in the Monaco GP by Luigi Villoresi and the last, again in Monaco, in 1962 by Lorenzo Bandini.
Reproduction reserved © Copyright ANSA