Ollie Bearman scored points for a fourth consecutive Grand Prix as he finished P6 in the F1 São Paulo GP. Haas dominated the midfield battle on Sunday with the Brit.
From P8 on the grid, he lost out to Pierre Gasly on the opening lap. However, he made a brilliant pass into turn 1 on the start of lap 2 to get the place back. He followed it up by passing Lawson 11 laps later.
A key moment for Bearman and Haas was him boxing at the end of lap 18. He undercut Isack Hadjar to gain track position on the Racing Bulls. Overtaking Stroll, Colapinto and Albon as they ran long was hugely important.
Following his second stop, he dispatched of Liam Lawson who was on a one-stop strategy in the Racing Bulls. He would go on to finish 23s clear of the New Zealander.
Ollie Bearman on a fun race and the different strategies going on in F1 São Paulo GP
With the soft, medium and hard all getting used at the start, Interlagos proved to be a great spectacle thanks to those differences. High deg on the softs and a lack of performance from the hards certainly helped.
Ollie Bearman discussed it in the print media area after his fine F1 São Paulo GP drive.
“Yeah, of course, when you have varying strategies, it’s going to be an interesting race with more overtakes, more tyre delta.
“Even if I think in the early laps I showed that we had pace and I was able to overtake some cars, most of my overtakes were down to having much newer tyres and not even in the same race as some guys.
“It’s a cool part of this type of race where some people are one-stopping, some people are two, some people are on the medium, some on the soft.
“It makes life quite difficult for us as drivers. It means you have to really attack and you never have an easy time out there, but it was a fantastic race.”
VF-25 driveability has improved following Austin update says Ollie Bearman after F1 São Paulo GP
Despite these era of regulations coming to a close next month in Abu Dhabi, Haas brought an update to Austin to try and make the car quicker. In such a tight midfield fight all year, every tenth has counted.
Bearman’s P9, P4 and P6 results since the upgrade came has proven it was a great decision. Haas are also ahead of Sauber by 8 points thanks to it. P6 in the Constructors’ Championship is not out of the question either.
The 20-year-old praised his team’s designers for the job they did with it.
“I think it’s enough. It gives us a tenth or two and that’s all you need. It’s cumulative across a 70-lap race. That makes a big difference.
“And I think it’s also the drivability of the car which increased a hell of a lot. I’m really proud of the guys designing the car and bringing that upgrade because it’s clearly bearing fruit.”
Ollie Bearman is now P11 in the standings following the F1 São Paulo GP. He trails Hülkenberg and Hadjar by just three points.
