Ferrari prodigy catches Fred Vasseur's attention after flawless F1 Mexican GP

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur was left impressed by the Italian outfit's prodigy, Ollie Bearman, at the Mexico City Grand Prix. The Frenchman claimed that the rookie was almost perfect throughout the race on Sunday, keeping the likes of George Russell and Oscar Piastri behind him.

Ollie Bearman had perhaps the best race of his F1 career so far at the Mexican GP, with the young Brit finishing fourth at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. The Haas driver was under pressure from Kimi Antonelli, George Russell, and Oscar Piastri at different stages of the race, but he managed to keep them all at bay in what is an inferior car.

After the race in Mexico, Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur praised Bearman's performance as well, claiming that the young prodigy "did an exceptional job."

"I'm impressed with Bearman, he did an exceptional job. He kept the Mercedes behind for over 20 laps and was also able to keep Piastri at bay. He didn't make a single mistake," said Vasseur [via Sky Sports]. "He'd had great weekends before, but he tended to make mistakes here and there. This weekend, however, was perfect from start to finish," he added.

Ollie Bearman joined the Ferrari Driver Academy as a 16-year-old in 2021 and has long been touted as part of the Maranello-based outfit's future. In fact, the youngster has already driven for the Italian team in F1 when he stepped in for the appendicitis-hit Carlos Sainz at the 2024 Saudi Arabian GP.

In doing so, he broke the record to become the youngest man ever to drive for Ferrari in F1, impressing onlookers with a P7 finish on debut. The 20-year-old finally got his opportunity to be on the F1 grid in 2025 with Haas.

Bearman's P4 result in Mexico has catapulted him up to P13 in the Drivers' standings, while also helping Haas overtake Sauber for P8 in the Constructors' table.

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Ferrari's Fred Vasseur claims Lewis Hamilton's penalty at the Mexican GP was "too severe"

Lewis Hamilton after the Mexican Grand Prix - Source: Getty

Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur claimed that Lewis Hamilton's 10-second penalty at the Mexican GP was "too severe." The 53-year-old did, however, accept that he cannot argue with the Briton receiving a penalty for the incident on Lap 8 of the race.

Speaking to the aforementioned outlet, Vasseur claimed that while Hamilton did deserve his penalty, 10 seconds was an "excessive punishment."

"I think the penalty imposed on Lewis is too severe, but I don't think there's much to argue about because he failed to keep the car within the correct stretch of asphalt before returning to the track," said Vasseur. "He went off onto the grass. Still, I think 10 seconds is an excessive punishment; he also lost four or five positions because of it. It was a huge penalty for him," he added.

Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen tangled on Lap 8 when the latter made an audacious move for P3 into Turn 1. At Turn 4, Hamilton ran wide after locking up and rejoined ahead, earning a 10-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage.

Edited by Mitali