Watch: Ferrari protege Oliver Bearman crashes out during the F1 Azerbaijan GP FP3

Ferrari junior driver Oliver Bearman recently crashed into the barriers at Turn 1 during the third and final practice session of the 2024 F1 Azerbaijan GP. The British youngster was chosen to replace Kevin Magnussen in Baku as the latter serves his race ban.

With only 30 minutes left on the clock, Haas finally decided to let Bearman out on the flying lap in Baku's FP3 session. The British driver was the last to join the track, but quickly exited it after a crash.

As Bearman started his flying lap after an out lap, he prepared himself to brake for the first turn of the circuit. However, he misjudged the braking point and braked quite late, losing control of the car. Since Turn 1 is quite narrow and the barriers appeared in front of him extremely quickly, he tried to steer away from them towards the run-off area.

Unfortunately, his attempt to avoid the barrier failed and he crashed into it, severely damaging his front wing and left front tire and suspension. He immediately apologized to the team on the radio, saying:

"Ah, I'm such an idiot. I could not turn. I'm so sorry," Bearman said.

Watch the clip of his crash below:

After Kevin Magnussen was handed a race ban after taking his tally of penalty points to 12 after the Italian GP, the American team picked reserve driver Oliver Bearman to replace the Dane in Baku.

Oliver Bearman was also recently announced by Haas as their permanent driver from 2025. He will be racing alongside Esteban Ocon, who is also a new signing for Haas.

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Oliver Bearman was delighted with his performance in FP2 on Friday

Prior to his crash in Azerbaijan GP's FP3 session, Oliver Bearman claimed that Friday's FP2 was one of his best sessions ever. Speaking to F1.com, he was happy to gradually build up and prepare for the full race weekend with practice sessions and data discussions. He said that he felt confident in the car and that he had a positive Friday.

“FP2 was amazing, the best session of my life! No, it was nice to do a full Friday, build up step by step without having to rush anything. I was quite happy with how the day went, and how it finished up. I was confident in the car, which is really important at a track like this, so a good day,” Bearman said.

Oliver Bearman's performance in the first two practice sessions at the Azerbaijan GP was quite impressive. The British driver secured P11 and P10 in the first and second practice sessions, respectively. In FP1, he was one position ahead of his experienced teammate, Nico Hulkenberg, and also clocked more laps than him.