Britain's best hope of a Silverstone win: F2's standout star Ollie Bearman

“Of course, the goal is to get to F1, I wouldn’t be on the grid if I didn’t want to get to F1,” Bearman says. “Every year it seems a little bit closer, of course, coming from F4 to F3 and then F3 to F2.

“Now, theoretically, I’m one step away. But in reality, it’s a lot more difficult than that. It looks close, but it’s really not. You need to really prove yourself, and my goal is just to do that. I don’t set a target or anything like that.

“It’s not a case of just performance, there’s a lot of extra stuff happening. So my goal is just to perform enough to keep improving and whatever comes after that would just be as a result of performing well. So that’s step one, and the other steps aren’t really in my control.”

Fresh from winning the ADAC and Italian F4 double, Bearman was third in the Formula 3 championship as a rookie last season, being left to rue a scoreless penultimate weekend at Zandvoort before a pair of second places left him seven points behind eventual champion Victor Martins in Monza.

But he took that momentum into this season, even if the early results didn’t reflect his level of competitiveness. It took until the fourth race of the year – the feature race in Jeddah – to pick up a first point, but after a frustrating return from Melbourne it didn’t take long for Bearman to make his mark by completing the clean sweep of races in Baku.

After failing to score in Monaco, another feature race victory in Spain truly put Bearman in the title fight, but he’s got a 44-point gap to try and erase to a formidable opponent in the form of team-mate Frederik Vesti.

Mercedes-backed Vesti is in his second season in F2, but perhaps what makes it more challenging is the fact Bearman’s trying to beat him in the same car, as they race together for Prema.

“They’re one of the strongest teams in recent history and in junior formula, so it’s really nice to go from F3 to F2 with them to give a bit of continuity,” he says of the Italian team. “At least not everything is new. You know, I’ve got familiar faces around me, which is of course important and kind of the way we work and the DNA is the same – they have the same philosophy.

“We structure our weekend the same way, our preparation is the same, which is obviously nice. And it’s super professional here. We’ve been working really well this year after what was a difficult year for a number of reasons. But this year we want to show what we can really do, and so far we’ve worked really well together, and we can hopefully continue like that.”

Being part of Prema – and becoming the first British driver to do so in F2 – means racing in red. And it betrays the wider support Bearman has from Ferrari as part of its driver academy. While so many talents have F1 team backing, Bearman is only the second British driver to be a fully-fledged member of the Ferrari Driver Academy (FDA) after Callum Ilott.

“It’s super cool,” he admits. “I basically live in Italy, which is nice. The weather is not bad, which is always a pleasure. It’s been about a year and a half since we started working together – since I joined the FDA – and their support has been really good. Especially jumping up to F3 was a big step and to have them by my side is really nice.

“We work in parallel with what Prema is doing to try and fast-track whatever we’re doing with simulator work, with my trainer in the gym, and everything that comes with that as well.”

As romantic a story as Bearman is part of by progressing through the ranks with Ferrari support — and surely impressing the team with his potential — it does mean his home race this weekend at Silverstone is a little less convenient given how he’s largely based in Italy at such a young age.

“On one side I do enjoy it. It’s fun. There’s a lot of drivers here as well, in the FDA, but also my team-mates in Prema, so I spend a lot of time with people who I get along with, which is nice.

“I do miss home a bit. I try to get home when I can, but I haven’t actually spent the night there for a good few months. But it’s part of it, it’s a sacrifice you have to make if you want to get to the top, and I’m willing to do that.

“I do miss my dogs a bit, but I’ll invite them over for the summer!”

There might be more time away from Freddie, an English Bulldog, and Ruby, a Boston Terrier, to come if the Essex-born driver continues his current form. Having picked up a podium in the F3 feature race 12 months ago, he’s not only one of the biggest British hopes for a win at Silverstone this weekend, he is probably Ferrari’s, too.

Deliver on those hopes and it could be another small step towards ensuring it is not the last weekend you see Bearman racing in red at the British Grand Prix.