David Coulthard impressed with ‘11/10’ driver who was extremely brave during Saudi GP

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Former F1 race winner and pundit David Coulthard was left seriously impressed with how brave Ferrari youngster Oliver Bearman was during the Sauri Arabia Grand Prix.

The 18-year-old has been the talk of the paddock this week after replacing Carlos Sainz at late notice in Jeddah.

Commentating alongside Jolyon Palmer for Channel 4, the 52-year-old loved one more in particular from the debutant.

Coulthard praises how brave Bearman was during Saudi Arabia GP

The step up to Formula 1 from any junior series is extremely difficult to cope with at any time in a driver’s career.

There are exceptions, such as Max Verstappen’s jump straight from Formula 3 or when 26-year-old Jacques Villeneuve finally made the switch from IndyCar and immediately challenged for a title.

However, a driver will rarely have as little time to prepare for their F1 bow as Oliver Bearman did, although Liam Lawson did a similar job for AlphaTauri in Zandvoort in 2023.

Thrust into FP3 after putting his PREMA on pole position in Formula 2, he quickly got to grips with his new car.

He went on to score six points for Ferrari and David Coulthard has praised Bearman for how brave he was in Jeddah.

The 18-year-old qualified 11^th, putting him slightly out of position given Ferrari have the second-quickest car on the grid.

However, it meant he could show off his overtaking prowess, as RB driver Yuki Tsunoda discovered…

Bearman showed full range of skills in Saudi Arabia

Commentating on Bearman’s overtake on the Japanese driver, Coulthard said: “Well, I’ll tell you what, he gets an 11/10 for bravery! He’s not treating this like his first Grand Prix.

Jolyon Palmer added: “Dangling a nose in on the inside of turn one, I thought that was going to end in tears and a damaged front wing for him.

“Just about managed to scramble over the apex curb and now he’s under pressure from the Haas behind, straight into the cut and thrust of the action isn’t he?”

Bearman appeared to impress the entire F1 paddock in Saudi Arabia including Coulthard and his brave drive has done his prospects no harm.

It’s yet to be seen whether Carlos Sainz will be ready to race in Australia, but Ferrari will be confident that if they need to put Bearman in the car again he can deliver.

He and Liam Lawson are surely knocking on the door of benefitting from the silly season that will soon take place in the F1 driver market.