Oliver Bearman’s ‘video game’ admission to Ayao Komatsu before difficult Sao Paulo Grand Prix

Follow us on Google Discover

Oliver Bearman got his third appearances in Formula 1 at the 2024 Sao Paulo Grand Prix, and it was by far his most challenging weekend yet.

The 19-year-old made his F1 debut with Ferrari in Jeddah in place of Carlos Sainz, who was diagnosed with appendicitis over the weekend. Bearman came home to finish the race an impressive seventh after only having FP3 and qualifying to get used to the SF-24.

The Brit will be racing full-time with Haas in 2025, and he got an early chance to drive with the American outfit at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix after Kevin Magnussen was suspended for accumulating 12 penalty points on his superlicense. Bearman became the first driver in history to score points for two different teams in his first two races by finishing 10th.

Magnussen found himself out of the car at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix after he fell ill before practice on Friday. Once again, with very limited preparation, Bearman was thrust into the VF-24 for his second full F1 weekend.

This would prove to be the Brit’s most difficult weekend in F1 to date thanks to the torrential rain that hit the circuit and caused several red flags and stoppages throughout the event.

Oliver Bearman told Ayao Komatsu he had only driven at Sao Paulo on the F1 video game before the Grand Prix

Bearman came home 14th in the Sprint race on Saturday after making it to the final part of qualifying, but fell down the order in the tricky condition.

Qualifying for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix was cancelled on Saturday due to the heavy rain and was eventually held on Sunday morning.

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

In a session that saw five red flags after multiple accidents, Bearman kept his Haas on the track, but was eliminated from Q1 in 17th. The 19-year-old was later bumped up to P16 after Max Verstappen was hit with a five-place grid penalty for changing engine components.

Bearman had been studying Verstappen’s onboards at Sao Paulo to get an idea for how to attack the circuit. But Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu realised how truly inexperienced the Brit was at Sao Paulo when Bearman told him that he had driven at Interlagos before – on the F1 game made by Codemasters and EA Sports.

It was then that Komatsu knew, as he reflected with Haas+, that it would be ‘challenging for Bearman: “Knowing Ollie hadn’t driven at Interlagos before I asked if he had done any simulator sessions for the circuit,” he said.

His answer was “No”. He’d driven it briefly in a video game before… So I thought this was going to be challenging.”

Oliver Bearman finished 12th in Sao Paulo while Nico Hulkenberg was disqualified

The heavy rain in the race made conditions almost undrivable for the drivers on track. Bearman exclaimed on his radio that he was ‘trying not to die’ as his struggles in the Grand Prix were made very clear.

His teammate Nico Hulkenberg faired no better and he found the barriers at turn one. He managed to get his car going again but was later disqualified in the pits during the red flag caused by Franco Colapinto, as the German had received assistance in getting his car moving.

Bearman spun off a turn five after the restart, but he was able to get his VF-24 back on track and limped home to finish 12th; his first non-points finish in F1.

Despite an admirable effort in horrid conditions, Guenther Steiner was ‘unimpressed’ by Bearman, labelling him ‘lucky’ as he struggled to stay on the track. Magnussen said he regretting putting Bearman in the car in Sao Paulo, as he claimed he would have raced if he knew heavy rain was coming, given that he secured his maiden pole position at the circuit in the rain in 2022.