For the third time in 2024, Oliver Bearman will be an F1 super sub. The 19-year-old British driver is replacing Kevin Magnussen for the full weekend, Haas F1 Team has announced.
The Dane sounded unwell on media day in São Paulo but took part in all the usual duties. However, he got worse overnight and has been unwell, meaning Bearman came in for the Sprint part of the weekend at least.
FP1 saw Bearman take to the Interlagos track for the first time and he was very impressive. P3 in FP1, he made it through to SQ3 on Friday afternoon. He was P7 in SQ1 and SQ2, outqualifying Nico Hülkenberg once again in the process.
On his SQ3 run, he got badly wide in turn 2, losing over half a second. Ultimately his time was deleted, and he’ll start P10.
Haas took the blame for what happened, as Ayao Komatsu confirmed they had an issue with the tyre temperature control box..
Oliver Bearman: “The car was feeling really good all day, from the first lap in practice.
“I’m happy to be in SQ3 and have made it through to the third stage of a qualifying session. I made a mistake in sector one, which cost me a lot of time as the rest of the lap was really good, so I’m disappointed with that.
“Ayao woke me up this morning with his call about driving today, and I give my best to Kevin as I know he doesn’t feel great and has had a lot of success on this track.
“I’m happy to jump back into a Formula 1 car though, it’s always a pleasure.”
Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal: “Ollie is impressive, considering he’s had minimal preparation, and it was a last-minute call-up.
“His first timed lap in FP1 was already impressive and then he built from there.
“His driving in SQ1 and SQ2 was amazing, and in SQ3 we had an issue on our side relating to the tyre temperature control box, so the tyres weren’t up to temperature, so the fact he went off in turn 2, was not his fault.
“His other sectors were very competitive, so I’m disappointed we couldn’t get his maximum potential out, but from his side it was impressive and he was happy with the car.”
