F2 rookie Oliver ‘Ollie’ Bearman battled a broken steering wheel throughout his Qualifying run but managed to place the PREMA car on pole during his final lap. Despite facing a run of unfortunate races and ending up 16th in the standings, he has come to Baku ready to race.
‘I knew I would be fighting at the front. I just had to put it together and I managed that in my qualifying session’
Having a competitive car beneath him and topping Free Practice, Bearman showed good pace throughout the session, despite a delay along with a red flag. However, a clip of the wall left the car with damaged suspension and only a minute left to put in a lap time.
As a result of the contact, the number 8 car was left with a misaligned steering wheel, tilted to the right throughout the whole lap. This was due to the hit of the wall altering the PREMA car’s geometry.
‘I was not expecting it because I had a bit of damage to the car. I was actually ready to pit at the end of my first lap’
Despite being ‘ready to pit’, Bearman continued for another lap and luckily showed an impressive change of pace. After multiple cars placed themselves in first ,one after the other, he eventually seized pole for himself, in front of Fittipaldi who was only 0.012 of a second behind.
‘There is no way! That was the scariest lap of my life’ The 17-year-old stated over the radio to the team after being told he was the Baku Feature Race pole-sitter.
‘It feels great and I’m looking forward to doing a good job in the races’
Bearman goes into the remainder of the weekend with promising pace and a hopeful outlook to his potential in Azerbaijan. His team mate Vesti close behind in fourth.
Image: Formula Motorsport Limited
