PREMA’s Oliver Bearman has hailed a “mega” Monza victory to reignite his push to finish as the top rookie in 2023 F2 Season.
Bearman entered PREMA’s home round sat seventh in the standings chasing Victor Martins to finish as top rookie, and found himself eighth-fastest after Practice.
Qualifying however was quite scrappy with many drivers setting their quickest laps in their opening runs, but Bearman was “quite happy” to qualify second and deny ART GP a front-row lockout as Theo Pourchaire took pole and Martins qualified fifth for the Feature Race.
The 18 year-old however believed that he was capable of pole after falling 0.159 seconds shy as he explained: “A bit unfortunate because the team really gave me the car for more today, but I didn’t manage to maximize my lap.
“Not super pleased with myself, but we managed to stick it to the front row.”
Bearman however could only finish sixth in the Sprint Race after a difficult opening lap left him 12th in the order – due to several drivers cutting chicane and gaining an advantage, which left him pleased with his “good comeback.”
He went on to speak positively of his pace despite the difficulty in overtaking as he added: “The pace was really good, although it was really difficult to overtake. I had some good safety-car restarts, and it was a decent race in the end.”
The Feature Race ultimately brought a huge slice of luck as Bearman cleared Pourchaire into Variante della Roggia on the opening lap, from which he retained his lead to the checkered flag despite overcoming five safety car periods to win on PREMA’s home turf.
Bearman’s victory also propelled him to within a point of fifth-placed Martins as the pair now face a final round showdown to be crowned Rookie of the Season in Abu Dhabi, across the weekend of 24-26 November.
Speaking post-race, Bearman was ecstatic to win at Monza after he twice finished second there in F3 last season, which ultimately saw him miss out on the title by just seven points.
“What a race! P1 in the home race and I’m so so happy! The team gave me such a nice car today, and it was just mega!”
Bearman also acknowledged that his race was challenging due to the various disruptions, as he concluded: “It was also tough, especially with all the safety car restarts, but we managed well. So nice to take that victory!”
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