F1 rookies Antonelli and Bearman share amusing driving test struggles

Formula 1 2025 rookies Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Oliver Bearman have shared amusing anecdotes about their adventures obtaining a road drivers’ license.

F1 may be the pinnacle of motorsports, and one of the ultimate driving challenges, but one bizarre quirk is that drivers technically don’t need a road drivers’ license to be able to race in the series.

At 18, Mercedes debutant Antonelli is the latest driver to first qualify for an FIA superlicence before passing his actual driving test on the road. And while the young Italian is used to dealing with pressure at the highest levels of racing, that didn’t prevent him from feeling shaky before passing his exams.

“I was really nervous,” Antonelli admitted in a conversation with the BBC. “That week was like hell because I was really studying and practising because I knew I only had that shot at the end of the day.

“Because then the preparations start, then the season starts and I had no time to do the driving test again. So I was super happy to have passed straight away.

“I made one little mistake on the theory, but I had three mistakes allowed, so it was fine.”

Making himself even more relatable to us mere mortals, Antonelli said he particularly struggled with parking. “The hardest thing was the parallel parking and reverse parking,” he smiled. “I mean, I’m not used to parking an F1 car! Definitely that was the toughest part.

“I’m super happy to have passed the driving test and finally I can drive on my own, and I don’t need to ask my mom to bring me to places. So, I can say I got my superlicence before actually getting my drivers’ license, which is crazy.”

Fellow 2025 rookie Oliver Bearman managed to get his driving test out of the way early when he turned 17, but not at the first time of asking.

“I passed the second time,” the Haas driver said, much to the amusement of the press at his F1 75 press conference. “I shouldn’t have said that…”

Oliver Bearman, Haas F1 Team

Photo by: Getty Images

“I didn’t stop at a stop sign. I didn’t burn through; I slowed down and I was crawling, but you are supposed to stop. We don’t have stop signs at a race track so that was my first sighting of a stop sign…”

“But typical me, or typical racing driver probably, I thought I could pass my tests without any lessons, so that’s probably where I went wrong. After that I took a few lessons. But I’ve been driving since 2022, so I’m a very experienced driver now.”

Antonelli is in good company, because four-time world champion Max Verstappen was a ‘veteran’ of 14 F1 grands prix before obtaining his license when he turned 18. And like Bearman, the Dutchman too passed after the odd hiccup.

At the time, Verstappen had to fly back from the Japanese Grand Prix to Belgium to take his test in between his racing commitments. He recalled in an interview with The Times last year that he got into a bit of an argument with his instructor.

“The examiner told me to go right and I went left. Then I didn’t give way [to pedestrians],” Verstappen said. “He was not very happy. I argued with him because I thought they were not actually at the crossing. So I was, like, ‘But they’re not there yet, so why should I stop?'”

“Luckily [I passed]. It would be quite embarrassing if I hadn’t. I think he was nice to me.”