Oliver Bearman: My ultimate driver

Before he makes the step up to Formula 2 for 2023, we caught up with PREMA Racing’s Oliver Bearman to give us his thoughts on what his ultimate driver would look like.

Unsurprisingly, the Ferrari junior is a fan of several drivers who represented the Prancing Horse, but also a few other Formula 1 legends from the past and the modern era.

__INTELLIGENCE __

“Probably Michael Schumacher because with joining Ferrari, I’ve heard a lot of cool stories about him, his mental strength and stuff like that.”

__DRIVING IN THE WET/DRY __

“I would choose Max (Verstappen) because he’s done some really cool things in the wet in the past few years and I think he has a lot of raw ability, which has really been showcased in the wet.

“In the dry – Charles (Leclerc) or maybe (Lewis) Hamilton. Leclerc’s a really, really good qualifier. I think he always extracts everything out of the car, which is a really nice quality.

__CORNERING __

“I would pick Charles (Leclerc) again. I think he’s good in the Quali laps, which means he’s good in the corners so it’s a no brainer.”

TYRE MANAGEMENT

“It depends. It’s tough because it depends a lot on the car and the tyre wear, but I would choose Max again.”

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__BRAVERY __

“Senna - you know his quote, so it has to be him. I was watching a documentary about him recently actually and it’s quite cool to get a bit of an insight and see how he worked. He was doing some amazing stuff, which I didn’t really see that much until I watched this documentary.”

__SMOOTH OR AGGRESSIVE DRIVING STYLE __

“Of course, you have to be aggressive in Qualifying and when you’re overtaking, but you also need to be smooth at the right times to manage the tyres and everything like that. It’s a mixture, I’d want a driver that could do both.”

__OVERTAKING __

“I would say Max again. I think he always makes it work, especially in the last couple of years, he’s done a really good job on that.”

__ANYTHING ELSE? __

“Always staying calm and focused no matter what happens externally. A good personality as well outside of the car because it’s important.”