Oliver Bearman revealed that Lewis Hamilton “pulled him out of the car” after Saturday’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
Deputising for Carlos Sainz, the 18-year-old impressed on his Formula 1 debut, finishing P7 for Ferrari.
Bearman, who is among the favourites to win the Formula 2 championship this season, was also named as an official Ferrari and Haas reserve driver at the start of the campaign. And this weekend he was drafted in to replace Sainz after the Spaniard was diagnosed with appendicitis.
Having missed out on Q3 on Friday, Bearman climbed from P11 to P7, while fending off the advances of fellow Brits Hamilton and Lando Norris during the closing stages.
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However, the intensity of the race clearly took a lot out of the youngster.
“I grew up watching these guys fighting and it was nice to share the track with them," he said via Express.co.uk. "It was a pleasure to have their recognition.
"[Lewis] was basically pulling me out of the car because I was struggling. It was really physical.
“In a race like this – one of the lowest-degradation tracks of the season and one of the highest lateral G [forces] – you are pretty much doing 50 qualifying laps."
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He added: “Honestly, surprisingly it felt like any other race. The [start] procedure is a bit different to an F2 race start, but once the lights were on you were focusing on what is around you.
"Luckily the F4 radios weren’t broadcast, but in F3 I was a bit more irate and I’ve learnt over the years that doesn’t bring any performance.
“No matter what I tried to stay calm, especially in a situation like this. We knew the race was going to come towards us so I stayed calm and let it come.”
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Bearman is already being heavily linked with a race seat at Haas next year.
Topics: Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton
Chris Byfield