This camera footage shows how Ollie Bearman's neck handled the forces at the start and during the last third of the race, compared to other drivers. Video from: yelistener #F1 #Formula1 #olliebearman #SaudiArabianGP
The 18-year-old rookie, who debuted in Formula 1 during the second race of the 2024 season, Oliver Bearman, admitted he "felt the pain" afterward.
Oliver Bearman, who jumped into SF-24 to replace Carlos Sainz during the 2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, faced multiple challenges during the first race of his F1 career.
He had to deal with the pressure from the media, prove that he deserved a seat in F1, bring Sainz's car home without crashing around one of the most challenging circuits, and deal with the enormous difference between F2 (which he was used to) and F1.
Ultimately, everything went well for the 18-year-old, who crossed the line in P7. Reflecting on his first F1 race afterward, he said, as quoted by Race Fans.
"The difficult side was, of course, the physical side. I expected it to be tough because already in F2 it was a physical track, so jumping up to F1, I was a bit scared. I just about managed to do it, but it was a big challenge."
To put the difference between F2 and F1 into perspective, F2 engines put out 620 horsepower, while F1 power units are estimated somewhere around 1050 HP.
Formula 2 fastest lap around the Jeddah Corniche Circuit during the qualifying session in 2024, which, by the way, was done by Bearman himself, was 1:42.217. In the F1 car, he put in a lap of 1:28.642.
"I think there's a few photos of my neck during the race, which struggled. I would say I was F1-ready, but Jeddah is another step. It's a tough track. It's one of the highest lateral G[-force] tracks."
"You spend a lot of time in cornering and even the straights have little kinks in them that mean the pretty much the whole race or 50 laps, you’re struggling with the neck."
The young Briton's neck couldn't resist the high G-forces at the end of the race, and his head was just flying side to side. The G-forces on his head were so intense that he dented his headrest with his head!
Bearman admitted it was super difficult for him, but he managed to fight through, and in the end, he can be proud of his result, as Charles Leclerc said. The 18-year-old added:
"So I did struggle, it was difficult, especially when I got out of the car. But the adrenaline helps me get through the race pretty easily and afterwards I felt the pain."
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