Karun Chandhok explains why Oliver Bearman Ferrari call-up will help Andrea Kimi Antonelli

Follow us on Google Discover

Andrea Kimi Antonelli will benefit after Ferrari called upon Oliver Bearman in Saudi Arabia, Sky Sports F1 pundit Karun Chandhok says.

Prancing Horse reserve Bearman and Mercedes junior Antonelli are teammates for Prema in Formula 2 this season.

And Chandhok feels that Bearman’s stand-in heroics at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix last weekend will actually help Antonelli.

The Briton deputised for Carlos Sainz for final practice, qualifying and the race after the Spaniard was hospitalised with appendicitis.

Having qualified in 11th, he finished seventh on Saturday – the best performance by a debutant since Felipe Nasr took fifth for Sauber at the 2015 Australian Grand Prix.

Antonelli marginally outpaced his teammate in their first qualifying session against one another in Bahrain.

He also beat him to the chequered flag in both the sprint race and the feature race, scoring the team’s only point.

Bearman then struck back in Jeddah by taking pole position, two tenths of a second and five places ahead of Antonelli.

He was then unable to race, of course, due to his commitments with Ferrari.

Bearman a ‘great’ benchmark for Antonelli

Writing in a column for The Intercooler, Chandhok billed the Prema pairing ‘the two hottest properties on the F2 grid’.

Now that Bearman has shone at Formula 1 level, it will be an even more impressive feat if Antonelli is able to get the better of him.

And the Sky Sports F1 pundit thinks that teams with vacant seats will be watching closely.

He wrote: “Having Bearman in the sister car, especially after his starring role in Saudi, will be a great benchmark for the Italian and any future employers, and it will be really interesting to see how the rest of the season unfolds between the two hottest properties on the F2 grid.”

Where will Ferrari and Mercedes youngsters drive in 2025?

If both Bearman and Antonelli live up to expectations in F2, then they will fancy their chances of breaking into an F1 field where more than half the drivers are out of contract.

Bearman knows the doors to Ferrari are closed, with Lewis Hamilton joining to race alongside Charles Leclerc.

That could open the door for Antonelli at the Silver Arrows, but a more realistic starting point may be Williams, where George Russell spent three years.

Likewise, Bearman could begin further down the grid at Haas, where both Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg are in the final year of their deals.

The 18-year-old will have the advantage of driving in six FP1 sessions for the team this season, giving him another platform to impress.