Quote:
Originally Posted by BTCC frog
This may sound harsh, but my takeaway from the Ollie Bearman debut is that Formula 1 drivers are simply too close to the limit now. It has become too easy. On Bearman’s Formula 1 debut, he finished just 24 seconds behind Charles Leclerc, who is widely considered to be one of the best in the business. So if peak Bearman is as good as peak Leclerc, then there is only 24 seconds to be gained from your first ever race in a Formula 1 car, on one of the most difficult tracks on the calendar, with just one hour of preparation before the race. And that is assuming Bearman will be as good as Leclerc, which is doubtful as his junior record is good but not on Leclerc’s level, and I would suggest that it could be more like 12-15 seconds. It seems to me like there should be more room for improvement than that. You might suggest that Bearman is just an incredibly fast learner, but we have seen it a few times in recent years. Liam Lawson was almost on Tsunoda’s pace immediately and was highly praised, yet he wasn’t considered worth a full season in the Toro Rosso for 2024. Nyck de Vries destroyed Nicholas Latifi on his debut and then was well-beaten by Tsunoda the next year. Logan Sargeant’s first race in Bahrain was the closest he has ever got to Alex Albon. Those were all on easier tracks than Jeddah, admittedly.
I do think Oliver Bearman was very impressive today considering it is such a difficult track, and he is definitely worthy of a Haas seat in 2025, or even later this year as Kevin Magnussen, brilliant as he was today at being a team player, just doesn’t seem good enough anymore (and he is another one who peaked on his debut). But unless Bearman turns out to be another Verstappen-level talent, he should not be getting that close to Leclerc on his debut with that level of preparation. I think the cars need to be made far more difficult to drive, and it should be an achievement to get to the end without a spin, while the gaps between a perfect lap and an average one need to be much greater. Maybe telemetry and simulators could be banned as well to further this. And mistakes on track need to be punished more like they were in Jeddah with Stroll’s crash. In Bahrain, the most costly mistake anyone made was to lock up and lose a couple of tenths on the runoff, and they almost perfectly sorted themselves out into the order of the car speeds, bar those who had something happen in the race, despite the current cars being closer to each other on performance than ever before.
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I understand your point, but I was actually really impressed with a driver who has spent hours on an F1 simulator.
He knew what he was doing. If you heard Fred on his interview about Bearman before his practice debut, then Fred wouldn't have put him in the car if they didn't have confidence in him.
There have been super talents before. Jody Schecter is one such talent who jumped out of F3 into F2 and F5000 and was easily on a par with seasoned F5000 drivers then into F1 where he was easily highly competent.
Would he have been at that level with a manual gear change etc. Who knows?
However, his F2 pole was an outstanding performance, and he has the goods.
The most interesting thing is he jumped into a top car.
There is clearly a pecking order in machinery.
The differences are not huge, but to be racing in the company of Norris and Hamilton, who finished behind him, isn't a reflection on Bearman, as much as it is on F1 and the convoluted way this particular set of rules has been evolved.
While it appears Max is head and shoulders above the rest of the field, just how true is that?
And what opportunity is there for Bearman?
Leclerc and Hamilton have those seats on long term Ferrari contracts, and at what cost?
If you could have Bearman at 5 million for 2025, why would I spend 15 or 20 times that on Lewis?
And the differences between drivers are probably much finer at this level than most people realize.
It is clear that the Haas is not the worst car in the field in 2024'
The Haas is better, or certainly as good as, over a race distance, as an RB, Sauber, or Alpine.