Ferrari’s view on Ollie Bearman’s standout Mexico drive amid promotion talk

Ferrari were impressed with Ollie Bearman’s breakthrough drive at the Mexico City Grand Prix as he narrowly missed out on a podium finish.

Bearman finished fourth at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez on Sunday, matching Haas’ best-ever result.

The British driver was in contention for a podium until Haas switched to a two-stop strategy.

It meant Bearman was beaten by Max Verstappen, who was on a one-stop strategy.

However, the two-stop call ensured he beat McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and the two Mercedes drivers.

Bearman, who is part of Ferrari’s driver academy, has impressed throughout his rookie year.

While the end results haven’t always stood out, his raw pace has been impressive, often outperforming teammate Esteban Ocon.

Giving his view on Bearman’s performance, Ferrari boss Frederic Vasseur said: “At one stage, I was thinking about a podium for him. He did very well.

“But if you have a look from the beginning of the season, he’s doing well.

“Quite often, he had a small issue in the weekend, either in quali or in the race, and this weekend, he put everything together. He made zero mistakes and he’s paying off.

“It’s good also for the team to have two cars up in the points. Congratulations to Ayao [Komatsu, Haas team principal] and to Ollie.”

Bearman a “huge talent”

Bearman’s form has led to widespread praise.

Legendary F1 commentator Martin Brundle believes Bearman should be Lewis Hamilton’s replacement at Ferrari when the seven-time world champion decides to retire.

Haas boss Ayao Komatsu praised Bearman for mastering the execution of race weekends - something he struggled with earlier in the year.

“We always saw huge talent and every single time we just are learning and we are improving, and then since Singapore he’s been putting weekends together,” Komatsu explained.

“In Austin, there were a couple of things in the sprint [race] and [grand prix], but other than that he was mega. And here, what can I say? He hasn’t put a foot wrong, has he? It’s just amazing.

“Then Max [pitted] and when those guys started converting into two stops, for me it was about risk management.

“For what we are fighting for, we really needed to secure P4, and then that was the best chance to cover and then go for it.

“Then again, after that pit stop, we were fighting against [George] Russell and [Oscar] Piastri — Mercedes-Benz and McLaren — what a privilege to fight those guys. The whole team’s done a fantastic job.

“It was just a big team effort. We’ve always been there this season, fighting, and then never had a big result.

“But what a team effort. Ollie drove fantastic. The tyre guys gave us completely the right information, the strategy guys did an amazing job, race engineer, performance engineer — everyone giving the right information to the driver, communicating.”