Racing
© Jonathan Borba
Oliver Bearman says the defining step in his Formula 1 development was not his shock Ferrari debut, but the move to Italy at 16 that he believes disciplined him into the driver and person he is today.
Speaking on the F1 Off The Grid podcast, the Haas driver said relocating to Maranello to join the Ferrari Driver Academy forced him to adapt faster than anything else in his career. “When I look at the person I was when I moved to Italy, when I was 16 years old, or even a little bit younger, I think I was just simply not ready for what the world had to show me,” Bearman said. He added that “that move and the structure that Ferrari gave me really disciplined me to be the person I am today.”
A big part of that, he said, was arriving in a new country without speaking the language and having to become independent quickly. Bearman described Maranello as “a great city” but “a bit rural,” with “not much happening at the weekend,” leaving him largely on his own outside his work with Ferrari.
He said the environment around him also accelerated that process. Bearman spent most of his time with adults, including engineers, mechanics, other drivers and especially his fitness coach, and said that meant he “had to grow up and mature very quickly.” Learning Italian and adjusting to life away from the UK became part of the same education as his racing.
Those reflections come after a rise through Ferrari’s system that brought him global attention when he made a last-minute Formula 1 debut for Ferrari at the 2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix and scored points at 18.
Bearman is now in his second season with Haas, and he framed that early spell in Italy as the base for where he stands now. He finished ahead of team-mate Esteban Ocon in his rookie Formula 1 season and was running 11th in the 2026 drivers’ standings on 18 points, with Ocon 16th on three.