Oliver Bearman made his Formula One practice debut in Mexico City on Friday and, aged 18, became the youngest British driver to take part in a championship Grand Prix weekend.
The Ferrari-backed Formula Two driver took over race regular Kevin Magnussen’s Ferrari-powered Haas car for the hour-long session at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez as part of a requirement for teams to give rookies track time.
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The team’s trackside engineering director Ayao Komatsu said Bearman had exceeded expectations.
“Not that my expectation was low, but that was so professional and he didn’t put a foot wrong,” he told reporters.
“The communication and the feedback were really good as well. So really, I’ve got nothing to complain about. It was a really impressive FP1.”
Oliver Bearman of Haas F1 VF-23 Ferrari during practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Mexico. | Photo Credit: Getty Images
Bearman will also take part in practice in the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix next month.
“My first goal was to have a clean session and we did that, so that was the main thing. Secondly, I got up to speed quite fast, I had confidence in the car,” said the Briton.
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“It was my first time on the soft tyres, my first time doing a long run, and I’ll do better the second time. But for my first FP1 I’m happy.”
The previous youngest British driver to take part in a practice session was McLaren’s Lando Norris at the 2018 Belgian Grand Prix when he was also 18.
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