Oliver Bearman believes Andrea Kimi Antonelli “deserves” a chance in F1.
Bearman and Antonelli are teammates at PREMA in F2 this season and have claimed three victories between them this season, with Bearman winning the Austrian Sprint whilst Antonelli won British Sprint and Hungarian Feature Race.
The 19 year-old Brit however will graduate to F1 full time in 2025 with Haas, whilst Antonelli is rumoured to be in contention for the Mercedes seat despite having done just one season in F2 and bypassed F3 after winning 2023 FRECA title.
Bearman however issued a defiant message live on Sky Sports F1 to critics about Antonelli’s ability to join him in F1, as he iterated that the Italian has earned a chance to reach F1 on merit and hopes that they can fight for the F1 title in future.
“We’ve always been following each other and stepping up around the same time. I’ve known Kimi for a long time, we raced each other a little bit in F4, a lot on the simulator, now we’re team-mates in F2.
“I hope for him that he will be in F1 as well because he deserves it. One day I hope to fight for a world championship with him because I think that’s the trajectory that we’re both aiming for.”
Bearman though has had a taste for F1 action after he made his debut with Ferrari as an emergency substitute for Carlos Sainz, after the Spaniard needed appendix surgery at Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
He proceeded to miss out on a maiden spot in Q3 to fellow Brit, Lewis Hamilton by 0.036 seconds in Qualifying, but drove a solid “very special” debut race to seventh as the youngest driver in Ferrari history.
Ahead of his officially permanent move into F1, Bearman is already setting the F1 title with Ferrari as a long-term target as a reward for their trust in him in Saudi Arabia,
“Of course, I want to win world championships, and to do that with Ferrari is my dream. They’ve been supporting me since 2021. They’ve seen something from me early on.
“They decided to trust in me, and even just to put me behind the wheel in Jeddah was a big risk from Ferrari’s side.
“That shows that they believe in me, that they trust in my capability, and of course one day I would love to win a championship, especially with Ferrari.”
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