Oliver Bearman admitted he was not sure he deserved to be in Formula 1 when Ferrari asked him to replace Carlos Sainz for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
Being part of the Ferrari junior program, Bearman was chosen to replace Sainz, who had to undergo surgery for appendicitis, and while he only had one practice session to get ready, he managed to finish seventh and score points on debut.
The 19-year-old driver went on to compete in two more F1 races with Haas, the team he will make his full F1 debut with in 2025.
In Baku, Kevin Magnussen was serving a one-race ban, and Bearman was the one who replaced him, finishing tenth and scoring one point. The young Briton also replaced Magnussen in Sao Paulo as the Dane was too ill to compete.
Speaking to the Financial Times, Bearman reflected on early hesitation when he was called to replace Sainz at Ferrari in Jeddah; he said: "In your first F1 race, you always have questions whether you're actually good enough.
"It's a bit of imposter syndrome, where you feel, "Do I really belong here? Have I really got what it takes?" Having done the race in Jeddah, I knew those questions were answered. I have my seat for next year," he added.
Bearman also admitted that he didn't expect to get these chances to drive an F1 car in 2024 when he was doing Formula 2.
"This year has been quite strange and unexpected in terms of my F1 appearances," he said. "No reserve driver goes into a year expecting to race, simply because it’s such a rare opportunity.
"The fact that I've got two of those opportunities, I can't help but realize how lucky I am. But the important thing is that, with those two opportunities, I really grasped them with both hands and made the most of them.
"I gave performances to be proud of and managed to stand out. But I don't think it will change my life. I just want to keep going and hopefully have some more standout performances," Bearman concluded.
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