After starting P14 in the F1 Spanish GP, Haas’ rookie driver Ollie Bearman had a turbulent race, which put him in P17. The Briton took part in an interesting battle with RB’s Liam Lawson throughout the second half of the race. Unfortunately for Bearman, a minor collision and an incident of leaving the track and gaining an advantage over Lawson left the driver from Essex without any points added to his tally. He ultimately classified P17 after that penalty.
Yet, it should be noted that Haas has had a big overall improvement compared to past seasons. Currently 7th in the Constructors’ Championship, both Bearman and his teammate secured valuable points this season. Moreover, at only a 2-point difference from the Racing Bulls, Haas has a clear chance of improvement for future races.
Race struggles and overview
Following a three-stop strategy, Ollie Bearman had all the potential of claiming a spot in the top 10 at the F1 Spanish GP. However, the fresh soft tyres during his last stint did not get the opportunity to work due to his general struggles with the Haas VF-25. The Briton spoke about his issues in the print media pen.
“Yeah, exactly. I mean, we had a soft tyre at the end, which seemed good, but I couldn’t really do anything with it. Honestly, in straight line speed, I’ve been struggling a little bit and just couldn’t really fight anyone out there. Yeah, a bit unfortunate that we couldn’t really do much with any tyre at the end.”
Nevertheless, Formula 1 is all about impressive overtakes and smart racing. Yet, sometimes the emotions run high, and incidents can happen. This was the case in the Bearman-Lawson battles. Left with a penalty, Bearman shared his thoughts on the on-track fighting that happened during the Spanish Grand Prix:
“Yeah, I mean it was a tight battle. I feel a bit hard done that I’ve been given a penalty, but of course I haven’t seen it yet. But it felt like I was totally stopped. So yeah, like I said, I need to go and have a look.”
Bearman sincerely apologised to Lawson, giving some additional context on his perspective on the incident. The Briton showed great sportsmanship despite his unlucky result. He also mentioned the difficulties he faced during the race.
“Yeah, I’m not sure why. I need to have a look, but I’m sorry if I did anything bad to him. It’s tough to manage everything that’s going on in the race, and he just went on my inside. I wasn’t trying to do anything bad, of course, but I’m sorry if I’ve done anything wrong.”
Recent changes and future perspectives
While the talk of upgrades was ever-present at the F1 Spanish GP, Bearman admitted the changes Haas brought to Barcelona were not as great as expected. Furthermore, he spoke of an improvement following a “big change”:
“I think we’re expecting a bit more. We made a big change prior to qualifying, which really improved our performance. But it was a bit late to be doing free practice with a different car really.”
Nonetheless, the triple-header is finally over and all 20 drivers and teams will be getting some much-needed rest. Before finishing his interview, Ollie Bearman gave his final insights on the necessary work that will have to happen before he can focus on their competitiveness.
“So then, going into qualifying and then eventually the race, we were kind of blind, which made it tough for us. I think we weren’t super competitive in straight line today, and I was being attacked quite a lot. So we have a few things to work on.”
