Essex teenager Oliver Bearman will make history at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix when he becomes the youngest British driver in Formula One.
The 18-year-old will take part in Friday’s qualifying to replace Carlos Sainz, as the Spaniard suffers from appendicitis.
Bearman will break Lando Norris’ record as the youngest British F1 competitor, as the McLaren driver was 19 years, four months and four days old when he debuted in 2019.
He also becomes the 12th Briton to drive for Ferrari, overtaking seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton for the driver’s seat ahead of his arrival next season.
Ferrari’s reserve driver, who will turn 19 in May, will leave Formula 2 for the Saudi Arabia race weekend, but has already made his impact in Jeddah.
Oliver Bearman, 18, will make his Formula One debut this weekend with Ferrari in Saudi Arabia.
Bearman is reported to be dating Estelle Oglivy, who has 72,000 followers on TikTok.
The teenager has been called up to replace the sick Carlos Sainz for the Jeddah Grand Prix
Bearman had topped the F2 standings on Thursday before being called up for the Grand Prix.
Ogilvy often shares her outfits on TikTok and has gained thousands of followers.
Bearman, driving for Prema, topped the F2 qualifying times at the Jeddah Corniche circuit on Thursday but withdrew from his sprint and feature races to make his F1 debut.
It marks a notable rise for Bearman, who will join legends Hamilton and Fernando Alonso on track this weekend.
He was just 18 months old when Lewis Hamilton debuted in Formula One and had not even been born when Alonso, 42, won his first title.
Bearman has demonstrated his exceptional talent from a young age after finishing in the top five at the British Karting GP in 2013, a year after beginning to compete in motorsports when he was eight years old.
He then won the Kartmasters British Grand Prix and became the British runner-up in the cadet category, before moving from cadet level to junior level in 2018.
His transition from karts to cars came just four years ago, when he competed in the German and Italian F4 championships. Bearman became the first driver to win the title in both championships in 2021, winning 17 races in total.
Bearman’s success led him to join the Ferrari Driver Academy at the end of 2021.
His move to the academy required Bearman to make the bold decision to abandon his private education at King Edward VI Grammar in Chelmsford.
Bearman entered motorsport at the age of eight and enjoyed success on the karting circuit.
The teenager needed to convince his mother Terri, right, to drop out of his private school.
Bearman ditched £17,000 a year King Edward VI Grammar to move to Modena
Bearman won the Italian and German F4 championships before joining Ferrari’s driver academy.
His Prema Racing teammates mocked Bearman in recent TikToks referencing his girlfriend.
The young driver admitted to Mail Sport last year that his “pro-education” mother, Terri, needed convincing to allow him to leave the £17,000-a-year school, his family and two dogs behind.
Bearman eventually got his mother’s approval to enter the academy in Modena, located 12 miles north of the Ferrari factory in Maranello in northern Italy. Since then he has developed an Italian accent.
“Maybe I was a bit lucky not to have an Essex accent,” he told Mail Sport last year. ‘Many people have told me that my accent has changed, although I don’t notice it.
‘I spend a lot of time with Italians and communicating with people whose first language is not English is not easy, so I changed the word order and ended up with this accent everywhere.
‘When I moved to Modena, everything happened quite quickly. It was like going to college two years early, but I’ve enjoyed every moment so far. My mother was very much in favor of school and pro-education, but in the end we managed to convince her of it.
‘I miss my family and my dogs. I have an English bull terrier and a Boston terrier and they are very cute. That’s the negative side. But the food in Italy is far superior to English and the weather is better too.
Bearman is reportedly dating Estelle Ogilvy, a TikToker with over 72,000 followers. The couple are believed to want to keep their relationship a secret after sharing a photo together on social media this week, before quickly deleting the snap.
However, his Prema Racing teammates mocked Bearman in recent TikTok videos referencing his girlfriend.
The teenager won two races on the F2 circuit last year competing for Prema Racing
Bearman drove in practice for the Mexican Grand Prix and was faster than Fernando Alonso
On the track, Bearman has continued to progress with Prema on the F2 circuit, winning two races last year.
He will now be the latest Prema graduate driver to appear in F1, after Charles Leclerc, Mick Schumacher and Oscar Piastri.
His progression was even more highlighted when he participated in training for the Mexican Grand Prix five months ago.
Bearman, who was born just three months before Fernando Alonso won his first title in 2005, finished ahead of the double world champion.
The 18-year-old described this achievement as an “added bonus” after having been part of the American Haas team.
He finished 15th in the first practice, just 1.6 seconds behind Red Bull’s unstoppable missile, Max Verstappen, and three tenths behind Nico Hulkenberg, a veteran of 200 starts, in the other Haas.
Bearman was photographed testing a seat on Friday before his appearance in qualifying.
The 18-year-old will become the 12th British driver to represent Ferrari in Formula One.
Bearman was just 18 months old when Lewis Hamilton made his F1 debut, aged 22, and admitted he was surprised to share the track with the legendary driver.
“When I heard Hamilton coming up behind me on a push lap I thought, ‘Wow, I’ll get out of the way,'” Bearman said. However, it was Jenson Button, 2009 world champion, who was his childhood hero.
“I heard Jenson praise me on Sky and that was incredible for me,” he added. ‘I don’t know why, but he was always the guy I loved and really admired. It’s great that he recognized my performance in practice and I will try to talk to him here; that is my goal”.
Bearman was expected to enjoy more F1 practice sessions this year for the Ferrari-powered Haas, but will instead be on the grid for the entire race weekend in Saudi Arabia.