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Jim79 wrote: ↑10 Dec 2025, 16:15 Yeah they had money but not the sort of historic money that you associate with F1. They were a bit 'nouveau riche', big 5/6 bedroom house on the Ardleigh Green road so not quite Emerson Park proper but enough that you knew they had dough. The house the dad and brother grew up in would probably be worth between £1.5/2m these days I'd say.

To be fair his dad David grew his insurance company all off his own back and has been really successful in doing so. Yeah he got a bit of seed money from his dad to get going but it has become the sizeable company it is off his hard work and business acumen. His uncle John was a runner on the LIFFE floor back in the day and then went on to day trade off his own book and last time I spoke to him was based out of one of these X-Connect offices in Brentwood/Chelmsford so as a family they have had a good start from the grandad but have done well themselves. They were always into motor sports and not just Karting, you'd always go past the grandad's house and they'd be a touring car style machine on the drive way on a trailer or under a cover that they'd been racing at the weekend so Ollie has just followed in their footsteps.

The Grandad is in prison at the moment as he was the owner/landlord of the King Harold Pub in Harold Wood when that you 5/6 year old boy got electrocuted and died about 10yrs ago. The old man was trying to do it on the cheap from reports and ended up getting banged up for negligence. Ironically my own Grandparents owned the same pub for about 20yrs through the late 60's / 70's and early 80's.

Russ of the BML" wrote: ↑10 Dec 2025, 08:40

Jim79 wrote: ↑09 Dec 2025, 09:41 I've been mates with Ollie Bearman's dad and uncle since I was about 16/17 so to see him make it through to become an F1 driver from his start in karting has been mind-blowing. Hopefully he continues his meteoric rise and can get a move to a better team than Haas in the next few years after he's got a bit more experience.

That's interesting.

Without trying to sound like I am prying, are they well off? You hear that all these F1 drivers come from privileged and well off families as karting is such an expensive sport to get into and maintain. Although, when you see Hamilton's rise it didn't appear that his parents were well off - Just that they committed everything they had to getting him to succeed.

I just wondered what Bearman's path to F1 was?

That's a fair question and I've always thought the same, just not enough of a nosey cսnt to ask like you  

Jim79 wrote: ↑09 Dec 2025, 09:41 I've been mates with Ollie Bearman's dad and uncle since I was about 16/17 so to see him make it through to become an F1 driver from his start in karting has been mind-blowing. Hopefully he continues his meteoric rise and can get a move to a better team than Haas in the next few years after he's got a bit more experience.

Fauxstralian wrote: ↑09 Dec 2025, 13:26 Would Verstappen have won the Championship if McLaren hadn’t made Piastri pull over to let Norris win a race earlier in the season?

Jim79 wrote: ↑09 Dec 2025, 09:41 I've been mates with Ollie Bearman's dad and uncle since I was about 16/17 so to see him make it through to become an F1 driver from his start in karting has been mind-blowing. Hopefully he continues his meteoric rise and can get a move to a better team than Haas in the next few years after he's got a bit more experience.

Bungo wrote: ↑08 Dec 2025, 11:10 I find it pleasing that the normally white, illuminated sign outside McLaren's Woking HQ, is changed to orange for 24 hours or so after a win.

I presume they will have taken the opportunity to do this as well yesterday even though he came third in the race? 

BerlingtonBertie wrote: ↑08 Dec 2025, 02:49 Half Belgium and lives in Monaco. As English as Hamilton

Massive Attack" wrote: ↑08 Dec 2025, 03:23 Born in England, schooled in England, lived in England, has an English father, yeah he's English.