Karun Chandhok names which F1 driver has ‘surprised’ him the most in 2024 so far

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There have been several surprises in the 2024 Formula 1 season, the least of which has been Red Bull’s apparent downfall and the rise of McLaren.

One of those has been the debut of 18-year-old Oliver Bearman, who became the youngest driver to debut with Ferrari at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

The chance to start his first race at the iconic team came after Carlos Sainz was withdrawn due to contracting appendicitis. The Spaniard would later go on to recover for the following race in Australia, which he won when Max Verstappen suffered a brake issue.

Bearman impressed everyone when he took to the wheel of the SF-24 and produced an seventh place on his debut, while his fastest lap was within half a second of Charles Leclerc.

Given he was also due some practice outings with engine partner Haas this year, it always seemed like a foregone conclusion that Bearman would be offered a drive for next season.

His performance in Saudi Arabia caught the eye of Karun Chandhok, who named Bearman as his most surprising driver of the 2024 F1 season so far when speaking on the Fast and Curious podcast.

Karun Chandhok names Oliver Bearman as driver that ‘surprised’ him in 2024

Bearman is set to drive alongside Esteban Ocon at Haas for the 2025 season, with his future set on joining the Scuderia as part of his links to the Ferrari Driver Academy.

While his season in Formula 2 has not been as competitive as he hoped, Chandhok believes Bearman has impressed elsewhere to earn his drive on the grid for next season.

“I don’t know if anyone’s really surprised me. Ollie Bearman probably. What a boy to get points on his debut. He didn’t even know he was driving at 1pm on Saturday and then he got points on Sunday,” said Chandhok.

“It kind of shows how it’s such a carpe diem moment for him. Because if you look at his F2 season, it’s not going well. So if an F1 team had to sign him up purely based on his F2 results, I’m not sure he would have got on the grid.

“Because he did a great job on that Saudi weekend, and when doing the FP1 sessions with Haas, he’s got himself into that race for next year.”

Oliver Bearman admits hype around F1 seat is ‘blessing and curse’

Bearman has been the centre of attention since Haas confirmed his drive for 2025 at Silverstone, despite the troubles in F2 with Prema this year.

After having troubles at the start of the season with the new F2 car for 2024, Prema eventually got back on track with Bearman winning the sprint race during the Austrian GP weekend.

Bearman later admitted that it has been a ‘blessing and a curse’ to have the amount of hype around his full-time F1 debut.

READ MORE: Who is 2025 Haas driver and Ferrari gem Oliver Bearman? Everything to know

Martin Brundle believes Bearman will have a ‘target on his back’ for the rest of the F2 season as his rivals, which include Mercedes protege Andra Kimi Antonelli, look to beat him.

Bearman is due to take part in further practice sessions with Haas at the Mexican and Abu Dhabi Grands Prix in the last half of the season.