Pirelli Highlight of the Year Award winner 2023: Oliver Bearman

It proved to be the most dominant weekend of the year by any driver and Oliver Bearman was the recipient of the Pirelli Highlight of the Year Award for his stand-out effort in Baku.

From start to finish, the Briton was the driver to beat, topping Free Practice on his first visit to Azerbaijan before taking an against-the-odds pole position, and that was with bent steering having made earlier contact with the barriers.

A fight through the pack from 10th on the grid in Saturday’s Sprint Race put him in position to steal the victory from PREMA Racing teammate Frederik Vesti just before a late Safety Car brought racing action to a premature close, but he wasn’t done yet.

Sunday’s Feature Race was another showcase of the rookie’s impressive speed as he battled eventual Champion Théo Pourchaire for the win.

READ MORE: Mecachrome Award winner 2023: Victor Martins

Having lost the lead to the Frenchman early on, Bearman rallied quickly to re-pass the ART Grand Prix driver before disappearing into the distance in what was a stunning drive to win. The only missing piece of the puzzle was a fastest lap in the Feature, but otherwise he claimed every single available point that weekend.

Speaking at the FIA Formula 2 and 3 Prize Giving Ceremony in Monaco, Bearman said that it was a hugely proud moment for him in his maiden F2 campaign.

“Near perfect. Honestly from my side it was a really, really tough weekend. It was another street track and on the first one I was on the front row, so street tracks went well for me this year. It was really historic, and I was just so happy to find my feet in F2 and take my first big result which happened to be two wins, so it was good.

“I would say this isn’t the trophy I was aiming for at the start of this year but overall it was a really good season, lots of ups and downs but we’ve set ourselves up well for what comes next.”