Oliver Berman admitted that he did not perform perfectly during his debut weekend in Formula 1, although the 18-year-old Briton received very favorable marks. At the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Ferrari’s reserve driver, due to circumstances, replaced Carlos Sainz behind the wheel of his car and earned points for 7th place.
“It was a very pleasant surprise, although these are not the circumstances in which I would want to make my debut, because everything happened because of the problems that happened to someone else,” Berman told Gazzetta dello Sport. “Yet I was given a great opportunity.”
I tried to get up to speed as quickly as possible, we managed to do a short race simulation to get an idea of how much degradation was in the tires, and it also helped that I did a longer set of laps.
From the outside it may seem that the weekend was successful, but I am a perfectionist and am willing to admit that I made many mistakes. However, this is not a drama, I expected there to be mistakes. I had to make it to the last qualifying because the car was fast enough. So it was my fault, even though I was just a little short of the third session.
During the Grand Prix I lost a lot of time trying to stay ahead of slow cars, especially Nico Hulkenberg’s Haas. I didn’t use the battery as efficiently because I had never used the ERS system offensively or defensively before the race. Overall, this was the first such experience for me. I could have gained another position if I had been more effective in overtaking.
Charles Leclerc helped me with advice all weekend, especially in qualifying. And during the race Carlos Sainz also helped, who practically supervised my actions, analyzed telemetry and worked with my engineer. It was just great! They have been an excellent help in accelerating my learning process.
I thought I was ready for Formula 1, but the circuit in Jeddah is quite difficult and for me it was not easy. But thanks to the adrenaline, I managed it quite easily and learned important lessons that will come in handy next time. I hope I get the chance to drive again.”
Source: F1 News
I am Christopher Clyde, an experienced journalist and content writer with a passion for sports. I have been writing about Formula 1 news for the past five years and am currently employed as an author at athletistic.com, one of the top sports websites in the US.
