While Lewis Hamilton’s debut race for Ferrari will be the main focus at the Australian Grand Prix, his fellow drivers Ollie Bearman and Franco Colapinto will also be closely watched by F1 fans for reasons that have nothing to do with the action on the track.
Last October the pair made headlines when it was reported that Bearman split with glamorous influencer Estelle Ogilvy, who then went on to form a romantic relationship with Colapinto.
The trio have a somewhat complicated dating history.
Ogilvy first dated Colapinto, the Argentinian star who is currently the reserve driver for the Alpine team.
After that ended she started seeing Bearman, with that partnership reportedly petering out in July last year, after which she started seeing Colapinto again.
Details about how the she met Bearman are scarce, with the relationship having generally been kept under wraps.
Estelle Ogilvy is pictured with her F1 star ex, Oliver Bearman, before the pair split last July
Before going out with Bearman, Ogilvy was in a relationship with his rival on the grid, Franco Colapinto – who she reportedly then started a second romance with
Yet while both she and Bearman appear to be prolific internet uploaders – including two YouTube video series following his F1 progress and behind-the-scenes interests – neither tended to post about each other nor their relationship.
A photo of them together was shared to social media in March, but swiftly deleted, and she was absent for his F1 debut in Saudi Arabia, where he made history by becoming the youngest British star to race in the top flight, aged just 18, as he filled in for ill Ferrari star Carlos Sainz.
The reported rekindling of her romance with Colapinto came after Ogilvy re-followed him on Instagram.
While Colapinto is a reasonably regular poster on the social media platform, he hasn’t treated his followers to any images of him and Ogilvy together – and she hasn’t included him in any of her posts, which are almost exclusively images of her demonstrating her fashion sense in a variety of high-end locations across the world.
Ogilvy, a law student, was born in London and is based in the capital.
The 22-year-old – who is of French and British heritage – is studying for a Postgraduate Diploma in law and hoping to complete the Solicitors Qualifying Examination.
Ogilvy has also become an influencer, where she regularly shares ‘Day In The Life’ clips on her TikTok account, which has the name @silly_lettuce – including showing her studying at the library before heading to the gym and then hitting an exclusive London club.
She has also frequently shared fashion tips on her social media channels, while she also posts pictures and footage modelling different outfits.
Ogilvy is a law student and influencer with a huge following on social media
Her social media fame has seen Ogilvy rise to 162,000 followers on Instagram and almost 180,000 followers on TikTok.
The influencer has also tried her hand at modelling and has been tipped for more engagements going forward.
She starred in a photoshoot for luxury watch brand Longines last December -alongside her friend India Rawsthorn, another model who is signed with Select Model Management.
Bearman goes into Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix after securing a drive with the Haas team on a multi-year contract.
A former Ferrari Driver Academy star and reserve driver for the famous Italian team, he was highly impressive filling in for Sainz in Saudi Arabia, qualifying 11th and finishing seventh after holding off Lewis Hamilton and McLaren’s Lando Norris.
That drive turned heads in the F1 paddock as he had next to no time to get to grips with the Ferrari before being thrust into the heat of competition.
He’ll be trying to outperform his far more experienced teammate Esteban Ocon in Melbourne and add to his reputation as one of the sport’s brightest young stars.
Colapinto comes to the Alfred Park circuit in a very different position, having taken a step backwards after being replaced as a Williams driver at the end of last season and now serving as the reserve for Alpine.
Bearman (pictured during preseason testing last month) comes to the Australian Grand Prix after scoring his first major drive in F1 with the Haas team
Colapinto has gone from Williams star to riding the bench as Alpine’s reserve driver at Albert Park – but the sport is full of rumours that could soon change
He had a crash-filled 2024 campaign and finished 19th in the drivers’ standings, and comes to Melbourne behind Aussie driver Jack Doohan.
However, there is a lot of speculation that Doohan is already under extreme pressure to perform, with Colapinto poised to replace him early in the season if the results don’t come quickly enough to satisfy team boss Flavio Briatore.
‘Flavio doesn’t mess around,’ said former F1 star Ralf Schumacher in a recent interview. ‘If Jack doesn’t match Pierre Gasly’s pace in Melbourne, he could be out by Japan [in early April].’
Last month Doohan gave a frosty answer when he was pressed on Colapinto’s role with the team at Alpine’s season launch, with a press officer awkwardly shutting down questions about the matter.
‘I’ve been told he’s a reserve driver,’ Doohan said during a press conference at the O2 Arena in London on Tuesday while sat alongside Pierre Gasly.
‘I think regardless, you’re one of 20 Formula 1 drivers in the world – and I know when I was in a go-kart, Formula 3, Formula 2, I would do anything to be in Formula 1 and sacrifice everything,’ Doohan added.
When he was asked whether he felt the arrival of Colapinto had undermined his place in the tea, the Queenslander issued a blunt response: ‘Is that a question?’
Alpine’s car was slow straight out of the gate in 2024 and didn’t improve much through the year, but there’s more optimism about the French outfit’s chances after they fared well in preseason testing last month.
