Oliver Bearman left the F1 Singapore GP feeling frustrated after salvaging points from a tricky evening around the streets of Marina Bay. The Haas driver crossed the line ninth, showing pace at times but lamenting costly errors and car limitations that prevented a stronger finish.
Chaotic start and early contact
The race got off to a tense start, with Bearman caught in a three-wide moment on the opening lap involving Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso.
The Brit revealed that the situation unfolded unexpectedly. “Yeah, it was a shame. I need to review it. I don’t exactly know what happened, but I think he was also in between Hamilton and myself,” Bearman said. “From the way we were breaking into the corner, I had no expectation that Hamilton would go early and it would be three wide. But I actually haven’t seen it yet, so I don’t want to pass any comment on it.”
The contact cost him early ground, dropping behind Alonso, “It was a shame to lose the position to Fernando on that lap one, but then we inherited it again after the stops,” he added.
Locked behind Sainz
Once the race settled, Bearman found himself stuck behind Carlos Sainz for much of the evening, a frustrating stint that limited his pace.
“Unfortunately, I just got stuck behind Carlos for what felt like 90 laps,” the British driver admitted. “We were quite poor all race well, I was quite poor all race in Turn 5 and Turn 11, which are basically two incredibly important corners if you want to set up an overtake. And I was just really struggling with the car balance through that.”
Bearman said the car’s handling in high-speed sections exposed him to attacks and prevented any meaningful moves. “Struggling with oversteer in Turn 5. It’s one of the faster corners on the track. Just there I was really struggling with the rear of the car and the entry and exit. I was losing a lot of time to Fernando there and actually he was able to overtake me into that corner. And then he was able to overtake Carlos into Turn 7 as well,” he explained.
“The fact that I was bad in that corner meant that I was vulnerable and also I couldn’t attack cars ahead. And then Turn 11, I just couldn’t really ride the kerbs very well there. We’re known to be quite stiff over the kerbs. That’s one of the things we have to deal with to get performance out of this car.”
Haas upgrades on the horizon
Despite the limitations, Bearman still brought home two points, keeping Haas in the midfield mix. He praised the car’s potential and looked forward to upgrades set to debut at the next round.
“Yeah, exactly. We have an upgrade coming next week,” he said. “Baku was a bit of a case of missed opportunity because we had a similar car pacing, even better than what we had this weekend. So, it’s just come away with some points. It’s a good feeling and it’s going to give us some momentum heading into the next few laps.”
Bearman’s ninth-place finish in the F1 Singapore GP leaves him 19th in the Drivers’ Championship, level on points with Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto, and keeping Haas in the fight with Alpine and RB. The 20-year-old now turns his attention to Austin, hoping to convert Haas’ upcoming updates into a push for the top six.
