Haas rookie Ollie Bearman’s first home race at the F1 British GP was full of controversy, but his pace and performance throughout the weekend was promising enough for the driver to believe that the lessons learned will propel him forward.
The choice for slicks
Like a few, Bearman opted for slick tyres at the end of the formation lap. This later proved to be a bad call for those who chose this strategy, drivers like Charles Leclerc, George Russell and Isack Hadjar fell behind the pack.
Bearman went into this decision with full confidence as the track died in many sectors. However, key braking zones especially in Turn 1 and the final chicane remained rather slippery, as voiced by several drivers through their radio messages.
“I think my decision to fit the slicks in the early laps was probably not the right one… it was wet in Turn 1 and the last chicane and that was costing me and everyone on the slicks a lot of lap time,” Bearman shared in the print media pen.
Late-race spin
Later in the race, Bearman’s tyre temperatures were far warmer as Albon and Ocon came out of the pits. This gave him a significant grip advantage, but not without its downside.
As he approached the tight pack ahead which included his teammate Esteban Ocon, movement from the drivers ahead led to Bearman reacting instinctively as he moved on to a damper part on the inside line and eventually lost control; he lost the rear of the car, and went into his teammate. It led to a synchronised spin.
“It was messy… I had really warm tyres, everyone else had cooler tyres and I had a lot more grip at that stage, but yeah… it was a mess.”
This came after Bearman received a 10-place grid penalty after qualifying 8th because he crashed under flag flags entering pit lane; while there were downsides to the weekend, there were several positives such as Haas upgrades coming to life and Bearman finishing at P11, just outside the points.
Ollie Bearman thoughts on the F1 British GP
To sum up a challenging weekend Bearman shared, “It’s a tough race… we switched to slicks in the early laps—in hindsight, that wasn’t the right choice.”
“But the car was fast and balance was good,” he admitted while acknowledging the positives.
Despite the tough outcome, the Brit remains positive about the pace the car showed this weekend. With lessons learned and a quick car underneath him, he’ll be looking to bounce back strong at the next race in Belgium.
