Haas rookie Oliver Bearman was grappling with frustration after Saturday’s qualifying at Silverstone, the young Briton ruing a critical error in FP3 that cost him what would have been a career-best starting position for Sunday’s British Grand Prix.
Just ahead of qualifying, Bearman, competing in his first home race in F1, was hit with a 10-place grid penalty for failing to comply with red flag procedures in the closing stages of the final practice session.
The Haas charger would go on to make the top ten shootout in qualifying which he concluded an impressive P8. Sadly, the heavy grid penalty handed down by the stewards earlier in the day means Bearman will start the race from a lowly 18th.
Bearman’s mishap in FP3 occurred as he was returning to the pit lane after a red flag triggered by Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto and lost control of his Haas VF-25 due to excess speed, cold brakes and tyres.
The stewards noted that Bearman had accelerated to race pace, reaching 260 kph at the pit entry, before crashing into the barriers, damaging his car’s front wing.
The FIA deemed this a breach of regulations requiring drivers to slow down significantly under red flag conditions, resulting in a 10-place grid drop and four penalty points on his superlicence, bringing his 12-month total to eight.
Silly Error – Big Consequences
Bearman was candid about his mistake, taking full responsibility for the blunder.
“Just a misjudgement from my side, really,” he said. “I didn’t account for the cold brakes and tyres. So a silly error, one that shouldn’t have happened at this level.”
©Haas
The mistake came at the worst possible time, with Haas showing clear signs of progress following a recent upgrade. Bearman was the only Haas driver to reach Q3 and had qualified ahead of several midfield rivals on merit.
With Mercedes junior Kimi Antonelli already carrying a three-place grid drop, Bearman was set to start from the fourth row – until the penalty hit.
He admitted the moment was tough to process.
Read also: Bearman hit with 10-place grid penalty after bizarre FP3 crash“My feelings were mixed, for sure,” Bearman said. “On one hand we brought an upgrade this weekend and clearly it’s showing potential because qualifying pace has not been fantastic recently and now to be in Q3 on merit is a good feeling. I only [used] one new set of tyres in Q2, as well, which normally only the top teams do.”
“So we actually had a very, very strong qualifying and the car was feeling great, the best it’s ever felt for me. Then of course I’m really disappointed in myself because I’ve let my team down.”
No Consolation in Strong Qualifying
Despite the step forward in performance, Bearman said the strong qualifying effort did little to ease his frustration. Starting from the back half of the grid at Silverstone, overtaking will be no easy task – and the young Brit knows what could have been.
“I’m still angry at myself and very sad,” he admitted.
“But I’m glad at least that we could show that the good thing today was we have a quick car in qualifying trim, which hasn’t been the case more recently.
“So I’m really proud of the team for bringing a successful upgrade.”
Sunday’s race will now be a test of Bearman’s recovery drive—but also a chance to turn the page on a weekend that promised much more than it ultimately delivered.
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Angry Bearman admits FP3 blunder ‘shouldn’t happen at this level’ F1i.com.
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