Oliver Bearman Fanclub (The British Underdog in F1)

[Nicky91]

https://media.formula1.com/d_driver_fallback_image.png/content/dam/fom-website/drivers/O/OLIBEA01_Oliver_Bearman/olibea01.png

i myself am proud to be a fan of such a talented racing driver, also unlike the likes of nepobaby pay drivers a la Lance Stroll, Ollie here earned his spot in F1 fair and square through the ferrari academy


and his father David Bearman also so cool, how he founded his insurance company Aventum Group when he was 18, and made it into a billion pound business, also respect for Ollie not fully relying on family resources to secure his F1 spot



also Ollie being the only british driver with the guts to defend Max Verstappen against the FIA's too strict regulations, i love their friendship btw, i kinda hope they can become teammates someday, i do think that combination would be FIRE



also this season, his best performance i find Bahrain GP, from 20th to 10th

[Nicky91]

https://www.motorsportweek.com/2025/07/20/oliver-bearman-backs-max-verstappens-view-over-unnatural-f1-racing-guidelines/


Oliver Bearman has backed Max Verstappen’s recent criticism of FIA’s sporting regulations, agreeing that the current guidelines can make on-track racing in Formula 1 feel “unnatural”.

Ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix, the Haas rookie underlined the difficulty drivers face in balancing hard racing with the risk of incurring penalties under increasingly strict enforcement.

Verstappen’s remarks came before the FIA officially published the updated racing guidelines for the 2025 season – changes aimed at clarifying wheel-to-wheel conduct.

The reigning World Champion’s frustrations followed a tense finale to the Spanish Grand Prix, where he was involved in heated late-race battles with Charles Leclerc and George Russell.

Fast forward to the Austrian Grand Prix, and Verstappen found support in Bearman, who echoed similar concerns about the rigidity of the current system.

Asked if he agreed with Verstappen’s view that racing now feels unnatural, Bearman didn’t hesitate.

“Exactly, I agree,” he told media including Motorsport Week.

“I think it is a little bit harsh to see drivers getting race bans for trying to create action, like we saw Kevin [Magnussen] get a race ban last year.

“And although it helped me, I felt like he was really hard done by to have a race ban for all these tiny infractions.

“In the end, he tried to overtake, but it didn’t work, and they both cut the corner.

“It’s no harm, no foul – everyone keeps going. There were no dangerous manoeuvres, no damage, but two penalty points.

“They add up quickly, so it’s a shame. It’s a difficult thing, because of course drivers need to be punished in some way to stop them from doing things, but a balance needs to be struck.”

Strict guidelines detract from natural racing instincts
Bearman went on to elaborate on the mental challenge drivers face during intense on-track battles, where strict guidelines can interfere with natural instincts.

He explained: “Sometimes in wheel-to-wheel situations, you need to be thinking about what point three of the guidelines says: ‘Ok, I have to let him go’.

“This stuff sometimes feels a bit unnatural, as we have circuits with gravel on the outside, and then you don’t try to go around the outside.

“Having all these prescriptions for everything can be a bit – not unhealthy – but difficult to remember in the heat of the moment, as you have a split second to make that decision, and you don’t have time to remember the five-page document you were sent in January.”

Despite his concerns, Bearman acknowledged the FIA’s intention, adding: “It is difficult to, but the FIA is doing a good thing, trying to create some consistency.”

With drivers continuing to raise concerns publicly, pressure may grow on the governing body to refine its enforcement or provide clearer in-race guidance.

.


also love how Ollie felt sorry for Magnussen for that race ban, despite him having been Magnussen's replacement that race

shows how he has not a huge ego but is so grounded and kind :hee:



Ollie is okay olé olé :cheer2:



meanwhile the likes of Lando Norris, Lewis Hamilton continue to be behind the FIA like sheep :joker:



Ollie and Max are right, we need a natural way of racing, without too strict regulations, of course there need to be regulations but they can be lesser strict, like they have been before in the 00s, early 10s

[Nicky91]

his girlfriend btw

https://media.licdn.com/dms/image/D4E03AQExxKDbKVr5bg/profile-displayphoto-shrink_800_800/0/1678976392216?e=2147483647&v=beta&t=AXdrqF9x1oNJSV_Y6u0cx361ZEtiHnmYYVG6lyNfEOM

Alicia Stent-Torriani, daughter of a high profile billionaire Anthony Stent-Torriani, CEO and founder of Monaco Asset Management, a firm managing around $4.8 billion in assets

she works with Lorenzo Leclerc, Charles Leclerc's brother, and this is how she got to know Ollie, within the motorsport world


also this billionaire daughter who helps out Ollie adjusting his car tyres, cooling his engine, not afraid to get her hands dirty, same grounded down to earth personality as him :love:

[Nicky91]

7th in the Spa sprint race :flutter: solid defence against Hadjar defending his position


as for quali yesterday, 12th hmmm not bad since they cleverly put more downforce on the car, for the race today regarding quite some chances of rain, then getting to 12th on the grid isn't bad with cars below who had likely lesser downforce, like Hamilton, Antonelli who terribly flopped in also better cars on paper



+ having teammate Ocon in P11 just ahead of him also might help him today



but i respect Ollie's honesty in his post quali interview, we had the speed to make it to Q3 just unlucky, he doesn't mention it, but he had to slow down quite a lot before the finish not to crash into a car on a slow lap in front of him, cost him also some time i like to think, but then again spa isn't exactly the perfect place where cars on slow laps can move out of the way :laugh:

[Nicky91]

GET INNNNNNNNN


Bearman starting from P5, due to a reshuffled grid, after penalties with the rainy conditions in the race today!



in a weaker car like Haas, but he is doing insane lately :clap1:

[Nicky91]

11th in main race, nice fight back to after second stop having fallen down to P18


:love: Haas needs to improve their pit stops tbh, but well done Ollie, no points today but good enough drive

[Nicky91]

Hungary so far


FP1 6th time
FP2 11th time (and in some sectors even one tenth away from Norris's time despite the Haas being a on paper weaker car than McLaren)


i see chances at FP3 and quali today

[Nicky91]

FP3 also 11th time



ahead of Verstappen :clap1: :clap1:

[Nicky91]

11th in quali, solid, and also in the uneven numbers, which are doing good in races on this track so far, as we saw in F2 and F3


also Hungaroring requires lots of precision and pace for overtaking, so i have some hopes for our Ollie


Good Luck Ollie for this afternoon :love:

[Nicky91]

DAMN!!!! but better to retire the car asap if something felt off in todays race compared to practice and quali

wise decision honestly, i mean something was off since normally Ollie has the pace to overtake multiple cars but now he couldn't so some mechanical problem i think



oh well, 4 weeks to figure out this issue and fix it for him and his engineer

[Nicky91]

good luck to Ollie for the dutch grand prix kicking off today


love his kinda bromance with Verstappen, that press day yesterday was good fun! Max praising Ollie, and Ollie saying such nice things about Max




i hope Haas can finally break their bad streak on tracks like Zandvoort, with fast paced corners, i mean Ollie definitely has the pace and precision, am rooting for him to get to a surprise podium soon, but anyway it is about the journey, not the wins

[Nicky91]

bad luck, 19th at quali in zandvoort


****


but anyway i keep supporting Ollie, glad his girlfriend is with him this weekend in the paddock :cool:

[Nicky91]

from the pit lane to 6th place


YASSSS Get In :clap1:

[Nicky91]

12th at Monza, i happily accept that result, also with a 10 second time penalty, staying slightly more than 10 seconds ahead of red bull's Tsunoda


that's pure skill :clap1:



was the 10 second penalty deserved, ummm overtaking under red flag is against rules, but Ollie's defense i agree with, as slowing abruptly would've been more dangerous, so yes overtaking Sainz in this particular scenario was the better of two options, good thing he didn't keep this incident in his head, and just went on with the race, shows how mature he is :flutter:



Go Ollie Go :cheer:



this young man has LOADS of Potential in years to come, also such a sweet down to earth guy he is



and btw fun fact, his teammate Esteban Ocon called him the best teammate he raced with in his entire career :D Ocon also loves Ollie's nerdy side, to try and break all sorts of lap records :joker:

[Nicky91]

12th at Baku


stable midfield driver, no points, but it is more about the journey! Go Ollie Go, i believe in you

[Nicky91]

Go Ollie Go


he's absolutely right to complain about Tsunoda's reckless driving, i mean it cost him several places, dropping to 9th, while Tsunoda remained 7th, and tbh it could've ended way worse for Ollie, with Tsunoda completely pushing him of the track


so that will be fun in Mexico this weekend :fan:

[Nicky91]

and Ollie getting a penalty point for complaining :rolleyes: almost like trying to silence criticism, what FIA do


Tsunoda's way of defending was just way too reckless, it is that Ollie was able to recover and get back on track, but what if Ollie crashed because of this, Tsunoda still getting away with reckless driving or?

[Nicky91]

**** YEAH

GET IN

4th place in Mexico! super drive from Ollie, also that one overtaking moment on Verstappen, pure class in his lesser Haas on used tyres as well :flutter: