Oliver Bearman shares the ‘priceless’ advice Charles Leclerc gave him before his F1 debut

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The days where drivers would come and go at every Formula 1 race weekend during a season are long gone with teams relying on much more stable line-ups throughout a campaign.

There was only one driver change during the 2023 F1 season – with Daniel Ricciardo replacing Nyck de Vries – and all 20 drivers retained their seats heading into this year.

However, at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Ferrari were forced into a last-minute change when Carlos Sainz required appendix surgery.

It meant a call-up for reserve driver Oliver Bearman who spoke on the High Performance Podcast about the experience.

Bearman has been highly rated for some time, making his FP1 debut for Haas at the end of the 2023 season.

He had a very impressive debut season in Formula 2 last year although things haven’t gone to plan this year in that regard.

The teenager’s future is already decided and he’ll be driving for Haas full-time alongside Esteban Ocon in 2025.

His impressive cameo in Jeddah would have eased any of team principal Ayao Komatsu’s concerns about promoting the rookie, and Komatsu was more concerned about Bearman’s F1 testing results than his performances in any junior category this year.

Ferrari were the second-fastest team on the grid in Saudi Arabia and Charles Leclerc delivered an important podium for the team alongside both Red Bull drivers.

Bearman has now shared what advice the Monegasque driver gave him before the race and how it helped him secure a 7^th-place finish that still leaves him above the likes of Alex Albon and future teammate Ocon in the Drivers’ Championship.

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

Oliver Bearman shares ‘priceless’ advice Charles Leclerc gave him at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

Asked what Leclerc was like on his unexpected debut weekend, Bearman said: “He was super helpful.

“I think he understood the difficulty of the position I was in and he was helping me through the sessions, especially before qualifying.

“I think he could tell I was a little bit nervous.”

Bearman is then asked what Leclerc said when he found out the news and added: “I struggle to remember.

“First of all, I think he said congratulations and was of course happy for me.

“But, the thing I remember that he helped me with was before the race, we sat down with him and also Fred and he was helping me a little bit.

“I hadn’t done any long runs, so I hadn’t done more than two pushes in a row before doing the race.

“So, it’s a bit of a different scenario driving in the race and the qualifying and he gave me a bit of insight about the tyre behaviour and stuff like that, stuff that I hadn’t experienced yet.

“It’s a little detail but it’s super helpful and it’s something that I didn’t get to experience in my one Free Practice session. These small little tips and insights were priceless to me in the situation I was in.”

READ MORE: Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc’s life outside F1 from net worth to girlfriend

Oliver Bearman admits he’s still not fully prepared for his first Formula 1 season

The advice Leclerc gave to Bearman proved invaluable as he managed to hold off Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris to secure his six points.

While Haas have had a stronger season than expected this year, it’s unlikely that Bearman will be facing the same battles next year.

Bearman admitted there’s one aspect of racing in F1 that he’s still not ready for but he has plenty of time to prepare.

The benefit of Haas confirming his future so early in the year is that it gives him time to come to terms with the decision and work out exactly how he wants to approach his debut F1 season.

The small amount of experience he gained in Jeddah – alongside the six FP1 sessions he’s doing this year – will prove very beneficial in 2025.