Vettel sent Bearman ‘good luck’ message ahead of Saudi F1 debut

Matt Kew

Mar 14, 2024, 11:12 AM

Upd:

Mar 14, 2024, 1:37 PM

With full-time Scuderia driver Carlos Sainz requiring surgery for appendicitis, team reserve driver and FIA F2 racer Bearman was called upon to partner Charles Leclerc from FP3 onwards.

The two-time Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Young Driver Award finalist narrowly missed out on a Q3 appearance in qualifying before lining up in 11th. He finished the Jeddah contest in seventh – with Leclerc scoring third – after a string of neatly executed overtakes, most notably dummying RB driver Yuki Tsunoda into Turn 1.

Bearman, 18, was sent a string of ‘good luck’ and congratulatory messages over the weekend, including from ex-Ferrari driver and four-time F1 world champion Vettel, who retired from racing with Aston Martin at the end of 2022.

The young Brit said: “I did get a lot of congratulations and also good luck messages before the race.

“My favourite one was from Sebastian Vettel. I’m a huge fan of his since the early days. I was, up until he retired, always routing for Seb. So, to get a message from him was really special.

“To know that he was kind of watching put a bit of pressure on, but it was a nice pressure.”

Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, in 2019

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali also got in contact. Bearman added: “He sent me a really nice message after the race, which was really happy.

“And I got a hug from Lewis [Hamilton] as well after the race. That was nice that he kind of recognised the race for me. That was a proud moment for myself.”