Barcelona F2 polesitter Ollie Bearman aims to take maximum points from Sunday’s feature race as he starts from the front for the second time this season. The Prema driver spoke to Feeder Series and selected media about the lap that gave him pole and about solving his recent inconsistency.

By Tyler Foster

“We all know I made my life a little more difficult than I needed to in Baku,” Bearman said after Friday’s qualifying session around the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. “Today was a bit more of a standard session, let’s say. I had a good car underneath me.”

Despite his inexperience in the series, the 18-year-old Ferrari junior has claimed two pole positions in just six rounds of his F2 career. After his famous pole position with a damaged car in Baku, Bearman finished Friday’s session without incident, 0.077 seconds ahead of Rodin Carlin’s Enzo Fittipaldi and 0.463 seconds ahead of current championship leader and teammate Frederik Vesti, who won Saturday’s sprint race.

The Prema duo’s success so far this season has helped return the Italian junior single-seater powerhouse to the top of the teams’ standings after a subpar 2022.

‘Never perfect’ – but good enough for pole

Vesti led Bearman in a Prema 1-2 in practice before the Briton claimed the top spot in qualifying. Speaking to Feeder Series about his performance, Bearman explained how he was able to qualify seven spots ahead of Vesti despite the Mercedes junior’s rich vein of form heading into Barcelona that saw him take eight consecutive top-10 finishes and the feature race win in Monaco.

“It was obviously close in FP. He did a really good lap. I wasn’t driving his car, but I just think sometimes you miss the feeling and are not able to put the lap together. No doubt we had a strong car today, but it’s like that – sometimes you don’t maximise what you’ve got,” he said. “Fred’s been doing a really good job this year. The last three races we’ve had three poles as a team, so that’s good. Hopefully we can keep that up.”

On the final flying lap that propelled him to the top of the timesheets, Bearman appeared to have exceeded the confines of the track as he pushed on the exit of the high-speed final corner. Fittipaldi called for it to be scrutinised with the belief that Bearman had overstepped the mark, but replays showed that Bearman had marginally stayed on the circuit and would thus keep pole position.

“I think from the car, it felt like I had loads of room,” Bearman said afterwards. “Clearly it wasn’t the case, but it’s a quali lap – you have to give it everything! It was a decent lap; they’re never perfect.”

Returning to form as F2 returns to Europe

Bearman’s pole position and double victory in Baku shot him into the spotlight in the series and earned him significant praise from the F1 world. But outside of that spectacular weekend, the British driver has only managed to score seven points, including two in Saturday’s sprint race. This difference has kept him behind the likes of VAR’s Richard Verschoor, who has not scored a podium this year.

Bearman’s biggest weakness so far this year? “A bit of inconsistency – well, a lot of inconsistency,” he replied. “I’ve always had decent pace but not always put myself in a position to show it. I feel like I’ve been going in the right direction. Monaco, that was not the case. It’s a bit of a unique one, but in the second half of the season, I just want to keep maximising the package I have.”

Nevertheless, he knows he can change that. With the calendar’s four street circuits out of the way early in the season, Bearman will now race on permanent circuits in Europe that he knows, which he thinks can help him catch up in the championship.

“Personally, I’m quite happy. I think this is the sixth race weekend. The first four were at new tracks. I’d only been to Bahrain, and the rest were new to me. Of course, that’s another thing to add to the equation. Now we’re back to the tracks I know, so that’s quite nice for me.”

Despite failing to score points in the previous round at Monaco, Bearman takes comfort in the knowledge that his speed carries over from track to track.

“Monaco was tough. I didn’t really lack pace, but of course, once you have a bad qualifying, that’s your weekend in the bin. On Sunday I was really quick, so it’s a bit disappointing of course. But it’s nice to bounce back,” Bearman said. “I knew it was there. I didn’t need to prove anything, but it’s nice to be back at the front.”

Header photo credit: Prema Racing