Mercedes chief lauds ‘incredibly talented’ 18-year-old driver backed by Ferrari

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Mercedes communications director Bradley Lord has admitted he’s been really impressed with Ferrari academy driver Ollie Bearman.

Mercedes have some talented prospects coming through the ranks but they face plenty of tough competition in their own series.

Lord was speaking on The Fast & The Curious and previewing the upcoming season of one of his own team’s drivers.

The future of Formula 1 right now appears to be bubbling under the surface of the sport, with the pathway for young talents suitably blocked right now.

It’s hard to begrudge the likes of Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton being on the grid considering how quick they still are at 42 and 38 respectively.

But previously, there would be more than 20 cars on the grid, allowing youngsters to establish themselves at smaller teams before replacing the stars at the front of the grid.

However, with every driver retained going into 2024, there’s now a generation of drivers stuck waiting for an opportunity to arise.

It means the drivers breaking into Formula 2 right now might have just timed their rise to the top of the sport perfectly.

While there are high hopes at Mercedes for Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes chief Bradley Lord has singled out Ferrari’s Ollie Bearman as a potential rival for the Italian.

The 18-year-old Brit has been touted for a seat on the grid in 2025 and is working closely with Kevin Magnussen right now.

Everything looks set for the pair to be rivals for years to come.

Lord hails Ferrari youngster Bearman

Speaking about Antonelli’s rise through the ranks, he added: “He’s [Kimi Antonelli] up against an incredibly talented teammate Ollie Bearman, who’s backed by Ferrari so there’s a little bit of a sort of Mercedes-Ferrari thing going on in F2 as well next year and that will be really interesting to follow as well.”

Where Mercedes have a relationship with Williams that allows them to bring young drivers through, Ferrari are trying to establish a similar connection with Haas.

It’s telling that Mercedes didn’t try and push Frederik Vesti into Logan Sargeant’s seat when there were question marks over his future.

Haas team principal Guenther Steiner has previously suggested he wants to stop hiring rookies going forward.

Judging by the hype around Bearman from both Ferrari and Lord at Mercedes, that may need to change sooner rather than later.