An eleventh-place finish – just 0.036 seconds from knocking out Lewis Hamilton himself from the third stage of qualifying – was the result for the teenager who otherwise competes in Formula 2.
– After my first lap I was quite shocked. In F2 you drive at the limit of the car, but in F1 you drive at the limit of the driver, says Bearman and continues:
– At the moment I’m not that proud. I know the car was quick enough to be in Q3. But I think when I look back in a couple of days, I’ll be pretty proud of what I managed to do today.
The debut is praised by both Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
– To jump into a car so late and deliver the way he does is really, really impressive, says Hamilton.
– He definitely exceeded my expectations, says Leclerc.
On Saturday, the race is run in Saudi Arabia. Max Verstappen starts in pole position after being fastest in qualifying.
