Johnny Herbert loved how Ollie Bearman ‘very smartly’ dealt with 27-year-old during Saudi GP

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The Formula 1 world has been raving about Oliver Bearman after his debut in Saudi Arabia and Johnny Herbert has praised him for his handling of Esteban Ocon.

Ferrari couldn’t have hoped for the 18-year-old to have performed any better in Jeddah than his seventh place.

Speaking to Racing News 365, Herbert gave his assessment of the teenager’s display and what particularly impressed him.

Herbert impressed with Bearman’s battle against Ocon

Oliver Bearman will be heading to Melbourne this weekend but might still be unsure what car he’ll be in.

Ferrari aren’t expected to decide on whether Carlos Sainz will be fit enough to drive until the last minute, meaning the 18-year-old will be preparing for both an F1 and F2 weekend.

However, if Frederic Vasseur has to call on the young Brit once again, he won’t be worried about the level of performance he produced.

Given how little time he had in the car, it’s not a surprise that Bearman missed out on the top-ten shootout in qualifying in Jeddah.

He nearly knocked out Lewis Hamilton to reach Q3, but it meant he got to work his way through the back markers to eventually finish seventh.

Johnny Herbert enjoyed the maturity Bearman showed in his battle with Esteban Ocon in the slower Alpine.

Although the French team have got things wrong this year, Ocon’s experience meant he was never going to give up the place easily.

Ultimately, the Brit may have already scored more points than his more experienced rival will for the entirety of the season if they don’t get their act together.

Bearman showed maturity beyond his year in Saudi GP battle

Talking about the teenager, Herbert said: “He has shown in the junior categories that he’s got something about him.

“He had some great races last year in his debut F2 season, then proved himself again by getting the pole position (in F2 in Saudi Arabia), and then he quite easily jumped into a Formula 1 car with literally an hour’s FP3 ahead of qualifying.

“He had a car that was capable of being on the podium, but what was lovely is that you saw him joking with his engineer and mechanics before the race. He was very relaxed, which is a very important part.

“A lot of young drivers get very, very tense on their debut, but he had the ability to take all those expectations on his shoulders from himself, from within the team, his family, and with it being Ferrari, the most high-pressured seat in Formula 1 where expectations are always very high on the drivers, and almost brush them away.

“In the race, he was very good and very aware of not getting himself into trouble. At one stage he raced Esteban Ocon who, as we know is very tough and very good at getting his elbows out.

“He had a couple of opportunities, went for them, but realised when it was not going to work out, he backed out. He played the game very smartly.”

Herbert and the rest of the Formula 1 world will have to wait to see if Bearman gets to take on Ocon and more of his rivals again in Australia.

Carlos Sainz will want to be back in the car quickly as he still has a seat to earn on the grid for 2025.

But Bearman is in a similar position knowing if he can put in the hard work now, it may pay off when the F1 grid for next season begins to take shape.