How life in F1 forced Ollie Bearman to evolve — as a driver and a person

New York Times

7 hours ago

Of the six full-season rookies in Formula 1 this year, three of them lined up on the grid for the first race in Australia with a sense of familiarity. After all, it was not their debut.
Liam Lawson had already appeared in 11 races through 2023 and 2024, meaning his 'rookie' label was long-shaken. Jack Doohan, meanwhile, got the nod for the final race of last year at Alpine.
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Ollie Bearman had already made three starts — including a star turn as a last-minute stand-in for Carlos Sainz at Ferrari in Jeddah last year, where his seventh-place finish stood him out as a great future prospect. Between that and his two substitute appearances at Haas in 2024, the team he'd signed to race for this year, plenty was expected of the young man from Chelmsford, England.
But Bearman would only truly experience the highs and lows of life in F1's intense championship spotlight once he was racing full-time. As good as those handful of 2024 outings were, they would never be enough to make up for his inexperience.
'Not being (called) a rookie was a bit harsh,' Bearman told The Athletic. 'Because I felt very much like a rookie, particularly at the start of the year.'
There were a number of adjustments Bearman had to deal with, just like his fellow Formula 2 graduates. There are new, challenging tracks, such as Miami or Japan, that never appeared on the calendars of their junior career entries. And the demands of being an F1 driver, like extra media duties and sponsor commitments, meant he was being pulled in many more directions.
'It's certainly been a big change — more exposure, more eyes on you, more questions to answer, less time focusing on the driving,' Bearman said. 'It's difficult to be prepared for the race weekend when a lot (beforehand) is not actually spent looking at data and stuff like that.'
In F2, the Thursday before a race weekend would be dedicated entirely to reviewing data and walking a track. Now, Bearman said he'd be doing 'very well' if he got to spend an hour with his engineers on a Thursday in race week. 'It's just the realities of the new life,' Bearman said. 'You can't complain about it.'
A tricky opening weekend in Australia didn't help Bearman settle in. He crashed in first practice, damaging his car so much that he couldn't take part in FP2. He spun into the gravel in FP3 the next day and was then sidelined by a gearbox issue in qualifying. He crossed the finish line as the last classified finisher in 14th.
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A disappointing start, but one he responded well to at the next race in China. A spirited charge to eighth started a three-race run of points finishes.
Of all the rookies, Bearman was perhaps the best-known to F1 fans thanks to his sporadic performances last year. But he felt there was a need to manage expectations early in 2025, to ensure his successful cameos last year weren't the bar he was anticipated to reach every time he went out on-track as a full-time racer. He especially had to remind himself.
'Last year I had it pretty… not easy, but I scored points in two out of the three races, and in the third one I was in Q3 fighting for points again,' Bearman said. 'So, I'm realizing that in a full season, there's many more variables that can happen. A lot more can go against you.
'Even if I'm doing a really good job in terms of my personal performance, it's not always reflected in the results. It's difficult not to get down about stuff like that.'
With a Haas car that has fluctuating performance levels, swinging from fighting to lead the midfield to propping up the qualifying results, Bearman had to come to terms with factors outside of his control that would lead to a poor result. Haas is seventh in the constructors' standings with 29 points, but 20 of those came in the first four races. Bearman has no points since the Bahrain GP in April, but has finished 11th in the past two races.
'Sometimes I feel like I've had really good weekends personally, and I finished P15, so sometimes it's really difficult,' Bearman said. It's not like F2, a single car spec series, where on a weekend that Bearman would be feeling good, he'd at least finish on the podium and maybe win a race.
'Now, a good weekend for me is P10,' Bearman said. 'It's an adjustment.'
It may seem counterintuitive, but it means direct results aren't the best gauge for Bearman's performances in 2025. 'At this stage in my career, it's not going to really change the future in a big way,' he said. 'Of course, I want to score as many points as I can for the team and for myself. But I think a more pertinent indicator is my performance.'
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There have been positive signs, particularly with teammate Esteban Ocon, a grand prix winner in his eighth full F1 season, across the garage. He's someone who Bearman has enjoyed working with so far.
Ocon has outscored Bearman 23-6 this year, but their qualifying head-to-head is much closer at 6-5. And the average margin is a tiny 0.032 seconds in Ocon's favor, the third-closest match-up between teammates in F1 this year.
As positive as that may look, Bearman felt various factors meant his qualifying results were actually 'a bit unrepresentative' this year.
Even at 20, Bearman already has a strong support network around him to help deal with his new reality of life in F1.
He's stepped up his training to handle the greater physical demands of F1 machinery, putting a particular onus on neck training. 'I've got to get some bigger shirts now,' Bearman said. 'Whenever I go to serious events, my top button doesn't do up! So I'm forced to be casual.'
Since he was in Formula 4, the lowest level of single-seater car racing, Bearman has worked with a driver coach who also helped with mental support, but he's now taken another step.
Bearman recently started working with a performance coach to 'understand the brain and how humans react to stuff,' he said. 'Not only for professional life, but also for personal life.' He noted how important mindset and mentality can be for elite athletes, sometimes even more so than physical training.
'It's just working on being the best version of myself,' he said. 'So, as much as I will spend 10 hours a week cycling, I will try to spend one or two thinking about how to react, how to perform, and how to better myself.'
This has helped Bearman get used to his new life as an F1 driver. 'We spend a long time in the limelight and going from one extreme, with so many people around you, to then going home and being in your own little bubble. It's tough to adjust. Sometimes you need two different personalities to live in this world. It's interesting.'
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Is that how Bearman feels? That there's an Ollie in F1 mode and an Ollie outside of the sport?
'For sure,' he said. 'Also, generally my tendency is that I've got ants in my pants, if you know what I mean? I need to always be doing stuff. Sometimes, a week off at home doing no racing, I'm like, 'what am I going to do with myself?' Because I need to be at a racetrack.'
If he can't be at an actual race track, then Bearman will happily make do with a virtual one, having recently taken delivery of a new, custom-built simulator rig to have at his home in Monaco. He moved there over the winter. 'I'm really happy!' he said. 'I'm using it to train, and it's been huge.'
Bearman typically races on iRacing and Assetto Corsa, but 'not all of it is super serious. It's just nice to have fun, try out new tracks, new cars. Any driving can't be a negative.'
As more Gen Z drivers have joined the grid, the rise of sim racing as a viable form of practice — and fun — has become clear. Four-time world champion Max Verstappen has led that charge. Born in 2005, Bearman said he 'grew up with an Xbox controller in my hand,' his favorite games being Burnout Paradise, Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit and F1 2012.
Thirteen years later, Bearman's face is on the cover of this year's official F1 game, F1 25. 'I'm yet to see myself, but I want to go to the store and see myself on the cover,' he said. 'It's going to be crazy.'
It's a new level of fame, but not one that Bearman really feels. As much as he's loved the reception from fans in F1 — he got some of the loudest cheers of the night at the F1 season launch event at London's O2 Arena in February — he's not felt a huge change in how he lives his day-to-day life.
'Fame is not really something that bothers me, or anything that I'm actually changed by,' Bearman said. 'Where I live, in Monaco, there are 18 other F1 drivers, and they're all more experienced and well-known than me. So, I can go by pretty easily. They don't notice me.'
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This weekend's British Grand Prix will bring Bearman full circle. It was at Silverstone 12 months ago where Haas announced he'd be racing for the American team in 2025. Now he'll have the chance to race for real in front of a bumper British crowd, which will surely take a keen interest in his success.
One thing that's striking about every conversation with Bearman is how fortunate he feels — a kid living out his dream of being an F1 driver. He gestured to the Haas motorhome around him, newly updated for this season. 'If you see where we've spent our whole careers before as F2 and F3 drivers, this is five-star luxury,' he said.
'Sometimes you have to pinch yourself with the new life that we're living and not get comfortable with it, because there's plenty of people who would love to be in this position and wouldn't think twice about taking the seat.
'It's important to keep working as hard as possible. Because your future is never guaranteed.'
(Top image: Mark Sutton – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images)