TEEN Formula One star Oliver Bearman was seen driving a Ferrari ahead of his return to the grid next week.

However, fans were not impressed with a prototype Bearman was helping to test.

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Bearman, who turned 19 yesterday, was parachuted in as a last-minute substitute for Carlos Sainz at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix as the Spaniard underwent emergency surgery for appendicitis.

The fresh-faced Brit impressed on his F1 debut as he beat Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris – who won his first F1 race in Miami last weekend – to finish P7.

Since then he has been driving back in F2 but will return to the F1 grid with Haas in Free Practice One of the Imola Grand Prix in Italy – the first of six opportunities he will get this season.

But before that, Bearman and fellow Ferrari academy driver Arthur Leclerc – brother of Charles Leclerc – were seen driving around the Scuderia’s private Fiorano Circuit.

It was not simply a casual drive, however, with Ferrari being asked to test a prototype new spray guard feature on F1 tyres in collaboration with the FIA.

F1 races with rain have been dogged by a massive spray back problem where the water on the wet surface is sent shooting high up into the air as cars drive over it, making it difficult for drivers behind to see.

In an effort to curb this and allow for more extreme wet weather racing, motorsport bosses have been trying to design an antidote since 2022, with Mercedes performing a test of their own last year.

One possible solution are so-called backsplashes, which were trialled on Leclerc’s F1-75 – Ferrari’s 2022 F1 car – around the artificially wet track, while Bearman drove the SF-24 – the team’s car for this season.

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However, pictures of these flaps sitting over the tyres did not go down well with fans online.

One said: “Oh dear.”

A second shared a reaction gif with the caption: “Destroy it.”

A third said: “Horrendous.”

Some fans were willing to give them a chance if they work.

One fan argued: “If it works, it has to look better when it’s implemented because my GOD that is disgusting.”

A second added: “It looks terrible but if it works and we can race in torrential rain then it should be introduced.”

A third said: “Doesn’t look nice, but the result is more important than the looks.”

A second test is set to be carried out at the track tomorrow with a new wet weather package, according to Formu1a Uno.

Elsewhere, Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu has revealed what Bearman needs to do to get a seat in F1 next season after current Haas star Nico Hulkenberg confirmed his exit to Sauber for 2025.

He said: “It is a combination; he needs to perform in F2, for sure.

“But when we work with him directly, you understand all the ins and outs, all the environment or the reasoning for certain things happening.

“So yeah, I’d put probably more weight on what we do with him, how he performs in our environment. But of course he needs to perform in F2. That’s clear…

“We’ve got six [FP1] sessions lined up for him, so we will see the first of that in Imola. We are really looking forward to see how we can develop him and how well we can work together.

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