Ollie Bearman picked up a long-awaited first Formula 2 podium of 2024 with a commanding win in Spielberg’s sprint race. Afterwards, the Prema driver admitted to Feeder Series it has been painful not fighting for this year’s F2 championship.

By Steven Walton

Bearman started from second place in Saturday’s reverse grid sprint race, having qualified ninth for the feature race a day earlier.

At the start, he seized the lead off the line, beating polesitter Kush Maini into turn one. Bearman then led until the end, successfully withstanding race-long pressure from Campos driver Pepe Martí, who had to settle for second place.

Afterwards, Bearman told select media, including Feeder Series, that he was happy to bring home a result for the team and he hoped it would lift spirits.

“I’ve been working really hard this year and we’ve been struggling of course a little bit, so it’s nice to bring back a result that shows that the hard work is going somewhere,” he said.

‘The results aren’t really showing yet’

Bearman’s best result before the Spielberg victory was fourth in the Monaco feature race. The victory in Spielberg has lifted his points total for 2024 to 28 and he sits 14th in the standings.

Bearman told Feeder Series that his pressure and targets in F2 were coming from himself.

“I feel like I’m performing at a good level but the results aren’t really showing yet in F2,” he said.

“I hope it’s not holding me back from getting an F1 seat, but by the same token, it’s sometimes a bit painful for me because I feel like I should be fighting for the [F2] championship.”

With just 28 points, Bearman is 79 points adrift of championship leader Paul Aron, who further extended his lead on Saturday by finishing third in the Spielberg sprint.

‘My focus is F2’

Bearman’s F2 campaign isn’t his only racing commitment for 2024. He is also the reserve driver for Ferrari’s F1 team, and he was called up to race in Jeddah earlier this year, where he finished seventh. Bearman also represented Haas in F1 practice sessions this year at Imola and Barcelona.

Bearman was asked on Saturday when he would announce his 2025 plans, and whether he already knew what they were. 

“It’s a question a lot of people want to know. I don’t know, I’m not sure,” he said. “My focus is F2 and sometimes I get to do some FP1s which is nice.”

Bearman said there was not a lot of pressure on him in F2 “because I think the important people understand what’s going [on].”

He said he was struggling to understand the new 2024 F2 car and was missing a bit of pace.

“I think today showed that we are making a step in the right direction and that if we get in the position to be in front and have clean air, we can have the pace and the car can be really strong.”

Header photo credit: Dutch Photo Agency