Jamie Chadwick tells Oliver Bearman how he’s got a ‘good opportunity’ to emulate George Russell‘s F1 career

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Jamie Chadwick has outlined the opportunity that Oliver Bearman has to emulate the career of George Russell amid his impressive first full season as a Formula 1 driver.

Despite sitting 19th in the F1 standings with just 18 points to his name, Bearman’s season has been a lot more impressive when considering the wider scope of his results.

The 20-year-old has finished on the cusp of the points-paying positions in 11th for a total of four times this season, with 12th being his second most popular finishing spot with three finishes there.

The teammate battle against his Haas counterpart, Esteban Ocon, also paints a more vivid picture of how stunning the youngster’s first full season in the sport has been.

The driver duo for the American constructor are currently neck and neck in the head-to-head, with Ocon just edging him in the points tally thanks to his fifth place at the Chinese Grand Prix in March.

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Oliver Bearman can emulate George Russell with a move to Ferrari in the future

Whilst showing glimpses of speed, Bearman has shown his inexperience through a number of different incidents, namely his crash under red flag conditions at his home Grand Prix in July.

Speaking on an episode of The F1 Show podcast after the conclusion of the Singapore Grand Prix weekend, Jamie Chadwick countered arguments of his naive errors by highlighting the promising career 20-year-old has ahead of him.

“Rookie errors, but you cannot take away his speed,” the British racing driver said. “All year, to be honest, he’s been very, very impressive. Putting a weekend like Singapore together is not easy.

“It was quite nice seeing him after the weekend. He was on my flight home, and he was saying that the first hour after he got out of the car was tough, physically. After your first Singapore GP, I don’t think he would have experienced anything like that before, but very impressive.

“You look at Esteban Ocon, who he’s up against, he’s no slouch as Jenson said earlier in the weekend. He’s beaten a lot of very good teammates, and Ollie’s come in and proved himself.

“Also, Ollie will have one eye on that Ferrari; he’s still in the driver academy, and he will be looking in the future to know that’s where I want to go. I want to go to Ferrari, and he’s a bit of a George Russell in that sense at Williams.

“So I think he’s definitely got eyes on the bigger picture, and if he keeps performing like this, I think in the next few years he’s got a good opportunity.”

Bearman has been tipped to replace Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari once the seven-time world champion opts to call it quits on his glittering F1 career. With the current run that the 40-year-old has been on since joining the Scuderia, there’s a chance that the young Brit could get the call-up at any moment.

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Oliver Bearman became the youngest ever Ferrari driver in his debut at the 2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

Bearman’s first full debut in a Grand Prix came in Jeddah last season, as a last-minute replacement for the appendicitis-stricken Carlos Sainz.

With the Spaniard already completing Friday’s sessions, the Brit was given just an hour of practice in FP3 before qualifying rolled around.

He performed leagues above what was expected of him with such little experience, qualifying 11th as he narrowly missed out on knocking Hamilton out of the top 10 shootout in Q3.

On Sunday, Bearman received a quick pep talk from his manager before going out and securing a seventh-place finish in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

It was a mightily impressive debut in the deep end of F1 racing, especially considering how demanding and precise the Jeddah-based street circuit is.

Even Hamilton was unable to match Bearman’s Ferrari debut in the former Mercedes driver’s debut with the team, where he could only muster a 10th-place finish.