Oliver Bearman and Gabriel Bortoleto have been racing against each other for the majority of their single-seater motorsport career, and despite being close friends now, Bearman has revealed why the two drivers used to hate each other before they’d even met.
Both drivers made the step up to F1 as full-time rookies for the 2025 season following Bortoleto’s 2024 F2 championship triumph and Bearman’s impressive debut with Ferrari in place of the stricken Carlos Sainz.
Bortoleto has flourished in his maiden F1 season and Sauber team principal Jonathan Wheatley can’t dish out enough plaudits for the young Brazilian driver.
Bearman is tipped to be a future replacement for Hamilton at Ferrari given his talents and standing as a Ferrari Academy driver since he was 16 years old.
Team principal Fred Vasseur noted that Bearman is currently on loan to Haas in order for him to gain valuable experience whilst not being bombarded with the ‘exposure’ that comes along with being a driver for the famous Scuderia.
READ MORE: Who is 2025 Haas driver Oliver Bearman? Everything to know
Oliver Bearman and Gabriel Bortoleto ‘hated’ each other after a crash on iRacing
Bearman recently described Bortoleto as his best friend on the F1 grid during an interview with Formula1.com, and the sentiment was echoed by the Brazilian driving during his own interview.
However, the British driver has revealed on an episode of the Quadcast that he wasn’t always on good terms with Bortoleto, and the two drivers actually used to dislike each other before they had even met.
“I remember he was in F4 and I was in my first year of F4, so he was winning races and I wasn’t. Then like a few years later, we came across each other on iRacing,” Bearman recalled.
“We had a massive crash together at Silverstone. I think it was during lockdown, we were flat out on iRacing and after that we kind of hated each other for a while even though we never met properly.
“We just crashed once in iRacing. So we would not look at each other, not talk to each other until like last year in F2 and we both realised, oh, this guy’s not too bad and we became friends!”
Friendships in the paddock usually only last until both drivers are competing for the ultimate goal of becoming an F1 world champion. The case of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg is a prime example.
Both drivers were childhood friends, until their infamous rivalry at Mercedes throughout the beginning of the turbo-hybrid era. Hamilton and Rosberg turned into archnemeses after the German constructor turned into a dominant force on the F1 grid, and their relationship hasn’t been the same since.
READ MORE: Who is 2025 Sauber driver Gabriel Bortoleto? Everything you need to know
Oliver Bearman recalled the ‘insane’ events that led to his Ferrari debut in Saudi Arabia last season
Bearman was called up to make his Formula 1 debut in last minute circumstances at last season’s edition of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Sainz came down with appendicitis after taking part in FP1 and was forced to withdraw from the event.
“Yeah, it was insane,” Bearman remarked. “I kind of knew something was going to happen and something was coming because Carlos wasn’t feeling great coming into the weekend and I had a feeling that something would happen.
“Before the weekend started on Thursday, I went to Ferrari to speak to the guys and figure things out just in case. Then I started driving F2 and Carlos did FP1, so I thought nothing more of it.
Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images
“I put the car on pole in F2, so it was a really good start to the weekend and it was sprint race day. I was preparing to start from 10th since the grids reversed and looking forward to it because Jeddah is such an awesome track and really cool place to race.
“And then yeah, next thing I know it’s my manager getting a call from Fred.”
Bearman ended up scoring six points in his maiden F1 race, something Hamilton was unable to match during his debut with Ferrari at the start of 2025.
The youngster would go on to make another appearance in 2024, replacing Kevin Magnussen at Haas following his ban due to accruing too many penalty points.