Christijan Albers says 22-year-old is the only person above Oliver Bearman in race for F1 seat

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Former Formula 1 driver Christijan Albers has said that only Red Bull reserve driver Liam Lawson is above Oliver Bearman in the pecking order to earn a seat on the grid.

The 18-year-old Ferrari reserve driver has earned a huge amount of praise for his performance during the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix.

However, speaking on his podcast for Telegraaf, Albers believes the 22-year-old is still the best option not currently racing in Formula 1.

Christijan Albers still rates Liam Lawson above Oliver Bearman

Last season was a disappointing one for the young drivers outside of Formula 1 right now, with every team retaining their current line-up.

Eddie Jordan called the decision ‘scandalous’ and admitted last year he wouldn’t have offered Logan Sargeant a new deal.

The likes of Zhou Guanyu, Valtteri Bottas and Kevin Magnussen weren’t particularly impressive last year.

However, one man who did brilliantly when offered his chance was Liam Lawson.

He could count himself a little unlucky that he didn’t earn a full-time seat, especially as Daniel Ricciardo didn’t have the immediate impact expected at AlphaTauri.

Albers has suggested that Oliver Bearman has shot up the list of potential drivers that teams will be looking at, but Lawson should still be the number one target.

The speed at which the 18-year-old Brit adapted to driving the Ferrari was sensational.

It’s now up to Ferrari to decide what the next best step is for him as he looks set to return to F2 for the next race weekend.

Rookies lining up to join Formula 1 grid

Speaking about Bearman, Albers said: “As a newcomer, he [Oliver Bearman] can easily end up high on our lists.

“Liam Lawson is of course still at the top because he simply belongs in Formula 1, but Bearman is not far behind.

“He [Bearman] just shows that he doesn’t just break under all the pressure, that he can stay on the court and even score points.”

Bearman and Lawson are both bright prospects as Albers said, but they’re unlikely to be fighting for similar seats on the grid.

The most likely route into F1 for Lawson is through the Red Bull group, either as Ricciardo or Yuki Tsunoda’s replacement or making the spectacular jump straight into the senior team.

Oliver Bearman will most likely be looking at Haas given their connection to Ferrari and his previous runs in free practice with Ayao Komatsu’s outfit.