Interview: Thomas Bearman on his F4 debut in Austria


While Oliver Bearman was making his second-ever Formula One Grand Prix at the Baku City Circuit, his father was in Austria watching 15-year-old Thomas make his single-seater debut in the 2024 Euro 4 Championship. 

Bearman was coming off a solid career in karts, finishing runner-up in the 2023 Rotax Winter Cup, sixth in the  British Karting Championship - Rotax Junior and the Rotax Challenge Grand Finals, most recently finishing tenth in the Wackersdorf round of the 2024 Rotax Max Euro Trophy.

Teaming up with British F4 front-runner Hitech Pulse-Eight alongside current British F4 champion Deagen Fairclough and third-place finisher Reza Seewooruthun, Bearman was in a good environment for his F4 debut.

"They're very nice," he said of his teammates. "It's nice to get to know both Deagen [Fairclough] and Reza [Seewooruthun], they're very good people and very good references for the track so I can try to catch up and make up for time lost."


Bearman at the Red Bull Ring on his maiden Formula 4 weekend | Credit: ACI Sport

Bearman had a tough weekend, as the mixed and unpredictable conditions made it harder for the 15-year-old to learn the track and the car. Despite a retirement in the second race, he kept himself out of trouble in the first and third races to finish twentieth and twenty-third, respectively.

Talking with him after race one, he said: "It's been a difficult weekend. The free practice sessions were both wet, while qualifying was dry and race one was a mix of conditions, a bit of rain on slick tires, making it a difficult first race in the car but it was enjoyable and pretty tough."

Despite the steep hill to climb, Bearman entered the weekend to learn as many things as possible as he was preparing for a full season in the 2025 F4 British Championship.

"I've only done 8 days of testing, which is not enough for a championship as difficult as this," he said. 

"This is just a weekend for learning and that's my goal for the next two races, just taking everything there is to know about a race weekend to be prepared for next year. That's the aim, to be good for next year and we got a lot of testing ahead." 


Thomas Bearman on the rookie podium at Brands Hatch | Credit: F4 British Championship

After his Euro 4 appearance, Bearman also raced in the last two rounds of the F4 British Championship with the same team, scoring two rookie podiums, both being overall top 10 finishes at the final round at Brands Hatch.

While Oliver is set to race for Haas next year in Formula One, Thomas will embark on a full season of Formula 4, aiming to join his brother in the F1 grid in the future.

"That's my aim right now," Bearman said. "Reaching Formula One is my current goal and hopefully we're in there together, recreating what the Schumacher brothers did."

Header image credit: ACI Sport

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