Haas driver Ollie Bearman heads into the F1 Belgian GP on the back of a very mixed weekend at Silverstone. The high point was qualifying P8 as the VF-25 was rapid in his hands.
However, he started 18th following a 10-place penalty for crashing on pit entry under red flags in FP3. The Brit would also have contact with Esteban Ocon in the closing stages of the race itself, costing them both points.
Ollie Bearman excited for F1 Belgian GP after Silverstone promise
After a three-week break in the action, the 20-year-old is pumped to get out on track again considering the performance of the updated Haas VF-25 car at Silverstone.
On qualifying Saturday, the home hero was P8 on merit, leading the midfield runners. In fact, he was less than a tenth behind his 2024 F2 teammate Kimi Antonelli in Q3.
For the first time since his F1 debut at the Saudi Arabian GP last year with Scuderia Ferrari, Bearman felt the Haas was at a level where he could attack corners similar to how he did in the SF-24.
“I’m really looking forward to it.
“Especially after Silverstone where despite having nothing to show for it we were the fastest midfield car in qualifying, and in the race I was fighting a Mercedes for the points until the very last corner. So clearly we had a quick car that weekend.
“And like I was saying in the TV pen, that qualifying was the first time that I’ve been able to replicate the feeling that I had in a Ferrari, which is full confidence in the car.
“The upgrade package we bought, it gave me the feeling that I could attack really hard. The car was predictable and I knew what it was doing underneath me. And with that we were able to qualify in P8.
“So that’s a good feeling for me and I really hope that we can replicate it because like I said that feeling of confidence […] even at points where I’ve had really high confidence with the Haas, it’s never matched what I had in previous F1 experiences. So what I had in Silverstone was a really comforting feeling and now I just want to build on that momentum.”
Ollie Bearman hopeful VF-25 updates were the key to Silverstone speed and will help over the remainder of the F1 season
Haas introduced a new floor and sidepod arrangement at the F1 British GP. The VF-25 — at least in the hands of the Brit — was very quick through practice and then into qualifying.
Asked if he felt it was because of the track layout or the update in his F1 Belgian GP print media session, Bearman seemed confident the upgrades were key to the speed.
“Well I hope it’s the update.
“The upgrade was going in that direction what kind of we’ve been asking for from the car. It seems to be that it’s replicated on track and it’s translated well.
“In fact, Silverstone is a very high speed and high commitment track and probably with the previous car I would have struggled a bit on that circuit in the change of direction. But actually with the new upgrade we were able to be quite strong there and I had good confidence.
“I really hope it’s the upgrade, we’ll find out this weekend. Of course this weekend is a very different downforce package and car characteristics change depending on the wing level of course.
“Yeah, that feeling was a good one and I hope we can put it down to the update.”
