Oliver Bearman’s former driving instructor David Currey has revealed how the latest F1 star failed his driving test. The Ferrari prospect made his Grand Prix debut in place of the sidelined Carlos Sainz at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
The Essex-born teenager was only appointed as Ferrari’s reserve driver at the start of the season but got his big break just two rounds into the campaign. Bearman has been attracting praise from the paddock after finishing P7 in the first race ahead of Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton.
However, away from the racetrack, the young man’s driving success has been more limited, and the great British motorsport prospect failed his driving at the first time of asking, instead turning to a new instructor to help him on the second attempt.
Speaking to Know, Currey explained: “He contacted me through Instagram because I live in his family’s village. I could see from his photos that he was an F3 driver at the time.
“We did the lesson in his BMW. I felt very safe even though I didn’t have my foot controls on. He had failed his test earlier with a traffic light fault. I’m not sure if it was for running the amber. Maybe he didn’t stop. Or it could be the way he was put on lights. When he failed he was like, ‘What the hell.’
Currey had only good things to say about the young man, adding: “I mean, he’s been driving since he was a kid. But he was polite and just wanted to learn how to pass. He asked a lot of questions and seemed like a very down-to-earth, big guy. When he sent me a message saying he had made it without kids I wrote, ‘Well done boy!'”
With his driver’s license in the bag, Bearman can focus on continuing his racing career. The 18-year-old will now return to reserve driver duties with Ferrari and Haas, completing six FP1 sessions with the American team before potentially driving with them full-time in 2025.
Bearman will also be hoping to get his Formula Two title campaign on track. During the pre-season, he was named as the favorite player by his PREMA Racing team-mate, Kimi Antonelli, but a slow start to the year for the Italian team as well as an exit in the second round has left him at the bottom of the standings without any points. his name.