Jock Klea: I never hoped for a more successful debut for Berman

Oliver Berman’s wonderful debut behind the wheel of Ferrari will be talked about for a long time, and let’s hope that the recent Saudi Arabian Grand Prix will not remain the only Formula 1 race of his career. He only turns 19 in May, so the talented Brit still has everything ahead of him.

Jock Klea, who now heads the Ferrari Racing Academy, is one of the believers in him and spoke about his impressions of Oliver’s debut while taking part in the F1 Nation podcast on the championship’s official website.

Jock Clea: “I couldn’t have hoped for a more successful weekend for Ollie… You can prepare somehow, practice the starting procedure, but when you put him behind the wheel on Friday morning, and there’s only training , after which you have to immediately participate in qualifications and compete with experienced masters, this does not bode well. Anyone can get scared.

We’re just really proud of how he fit into the team, how well the team supported him. After all, the driver has to perceive a huge amount of information, and in the cockpit of a Formula 1 car it is necessary to perform many different actions. But we tried to make it easier for Oliver.

Matteo Togninalli, Chief Race Engineer immediately said: “There is a lot of information, but let’s not overload Ollie with it. Let him reach the desired speed level himself.” And everyone saw what we already knew: Berman is capable of a lot. But I didn’t expect him to be able to demonstrate that under such circumstances.

He performed very well in Formula 2 at the Jeddah circuit. Last year he started from the front row and this time he won pole. It is clear that this route suits him. But it’s a completely different story if you have to qualify while driving a car you don’t know well. I have to admit that although he has worked with us on tests and driven around the track in Fiorano a few times, but only on old cars.

He had never driven an SF-24 before and now he got behind the wheel of this car for the first time. Many experienced racers say they feel a little scared on the track in Jeddah. The walls are too close there and that in itself is scary.

In the second part of qualifying he was under a lot of pressure: he locked up the brakes on the first set of tires, after which he had to try the second set again and try to qualify for the final. It is in this situation that it becomes clear that this is the next level, and that is when the difficulties begin. In any case, Oliver did excellently and achieved 11th place. It exceeded our expectations.

I have said more than once that the closer Oliver gets to his Formula 1 debut, the better he will drive, because our sport values ​​a truly intelligent approach to business. Thinking drivers who know how to find a way out of the situations they find themselves in achieve a lot in F1. Ollie is a very smart boy and I think he has shown that now.

We know he is a fast racer. He performed well this weekend, doing great on race day when he had to get a good start and compete with aggressive opponents. We thought if he completed the first lap and all four wheels of his car stayed in place, we would be happy with that. And he succeeded.

At that point he was still in eleventh place, and only then, as the race progressed, did he really start to roll in. It must be admitted that Oliver’s experience increased by 10% with each round, and it turned out that with half the distance his experience in piloting the SF-24 had already doubled. He learned very quickly, correctly assessing his abilities, and never overdid it. That’s what I’m most proud of.

But it was easy to overestimate your power, because Charles Leclerc was in front and Ollie understood that the car could reach higher speeds. In this situation it was possible to overdo it and make a mistake. In the last ten laps, when Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton overtook him on fresh, soft tires, we were already starting to think he was about to lock the wheels at Turn 1 and ruin everything.

However, he made no mistake, kept the rhythm and in fact, towards the end of the race he went faster and faster. I think his best lap was the penultimate lap, where he acted very smartly, and I am very proud of that.”