Ollie Bearman has been making waves for bringing Haas up the board ahead of the F1 São Paulo GP. As one of six rookies this year, Bearman placed fourth in Mexico City. After his highest score of the season and in his career so far, the pressure is on for the F1 São Paulo GP. His team is currently ranked P8 in the Constructors’ Championship.
The high of Mexico
Bearman is glad that he was able to give Haas some much needed satisfaction with his points finish in Mexico. Being a midfield team, it is tough to be fighting for podiums on merit. The Haas rookie is proud that he was able to give them such a good result. He is delighted that their countless hours of work are getting some recognition ahead of the F1 São Paulo GP.
“Yeah, it was a good race. That’s what we all do it for and it’s really nice to bring that result to the team. It’s been a long time since they had a P4. And of course, for a team of our size and our scale and operation compared to the others, P4 for us is a fantastic result.
“All the mechanics, all of the engineers, they put in so much. Even the people back in Maranello and even in Banbury, it’s quite rare that they probably feel fully satisfied after a race because of the amount of hard work that they’re doing and I really hope that after Mexico they will.”
Close call on tyre strategy
During the F1 Mexico City GP, Bearman moved up from P9 amidst chaos in the opening stages of the race. A battle between Verstappen and Hamilton then allowed Bearman to move up into P3 quite quickly. Ahead of the F1 São Paulo GP, Bearman knew a podium was within reach.
With Antonelli and Piastri hot on his tail, the Haas driver claimed he could have kept his lead in Mexico. However, once they took their second pit stop for softs, they had to cover it. It allowed Verstappen on the medium-soft stint to take P3.
When asked about seeing himself on the podium in Mexico, Bearman responded,
“During the race, yes. Of course, I just have to know what the others are doing and I wasn’t really sure what Max’s plan was. I think the only way if we finish in the top 3 would be if the guys behind me stayed out as well and we all went to the end. But the second that Piastri and Kimi boxed, it was game over I think.
He remained grateful that he’d been able to get his second set of fresh tyres. The British driver felt he would’ve fallen down the pack without them. Though he didn’t see the pit stop coming, Bearman put his trust in Haas to see the full picture. He has full faith that the team will make the right call again at the F1 São Paulo GP.
“I think regardless if we stayed out or boxed on that lap, I would have finished 4th but, of course, no way to finish on the podium. If a safety car came out and I didn’t pit, then I would have fallen back. From in the car I thought I was going to be on the podium at one point. I was shocked when I got called to box but I don’t see the full picture like the strategists do.”
Haas has a chance at a podium
Haas has yet to get a podium since joining Formula 1. Bearman exclaimed how it is hard to watch the other teams stand on the podium, but he feels their chance was in Mexico had the Mercedes duo and Piastri had not boxed. Nonetheless, Haas rightly ruled with their head over hearts on strategy.
“It’s an important one. I can imagine being on the pit wall for a team that’s never finished on the podium where all the other teams have in the last 12 months. We get one chance a year maximum to finish on the podium and that was our chance.”
He expressed full faith in his team, recognizing that the decision to box was a tough call. Bearman knew the feeling of giving up a podium position, but he believes the end result would’ve been the same ahead of the F1 São Paulo GP.
“To look at the bigger picture and to take that decision to box the car. That must be one of the most difficult decisions that you can make. Because you feel like you’re giving up a podium. At the end, we weren’t because we weren’t going to finish on the podium regardless of what happened in my opinion.
The Haas rookie was full of compliments for his team. He elaborated that the team is under huge stress and must make split-second decisions. This smart decision-making will be crucial for another great result in the potentially rain-filled F1 São Paulo GP.
“But that shows that they’re really able to make these great decisions under huge amounts of pressure and very short time constraints as well. And that will very much be an important thing this weekend as well with rain on the forecast.”
Late upgrade leads to a strong finish
Haas upgraded their car quite late into the season, bringing one to Austin. Bearman agreed that this was a good decision for the team. If all goes well at the F1 São Paulo GP, the development for the 2026 car might look similar to this upgrade.
“Yes, certainly it was a good decision I think to bring the upgrade, looking at where we are now and, every position is so important in terms of money for Haas. That will be very important for us for next year and development and everything.
The British driver will be putting it all out on the track this weekend to keep moving the team up in the WCC. He will try his hardest to bridge the small gap between Haas, Racing Bulls and Aston Martin ahead of the F1 São Paulo GP.
“I’m going to be giving them absolutely everything to try and score more points and get us closer. But I think now it’s 10 points from P6 or something like that.
Bearman is hoping for a crazy race amidst the forecasted showers this weekend. He mentioned last year’s F1 São Paulo GP saw a double podium for Alpine. With fellow midfield teams reaching podiums this season, he is looking to maximize the potential of the car but also the conditions in São Paulo.
“But I look at last year in Brazil, two Alpines were not very fast all year and then they had both cars on the podium and they jumped up to P6. It’s still possible to have one of those crazy races where things can change a lot. But I just want to try and capitalize and maximize every opportunity in these last four with the car that we have which is clearly able to fight in the points.”
