Ollie Bearman secured his joint best qualifying result in F1 with a P10 start for the Japanese GP. Despite Haas struggling throughout practice for raw speed, Bearman put together an impressive lap, getting himself into Q3 for the race on Sunday.
Bearman suffered a difficult start to the season with multiple mistakes around Albert Park. Despite questions looming over his performance at the season opener, he has worked hard to impress since then.
Coming in the Japanese Grand Prix weekend, the VF-25 has seemed difficult with the wind around the high-speed corners of Suzuka bringing trouble for everyone. The practice sessions saw Haas at the back of the grid alongside Sauber, fighting for the final few positions.
However, come qualifying, Bearman managed to unlock potential in the car, making it into Q3 and finishing the session tenth, while his teammate, Esteban Ocon, will start 18th.
The Brit puts his success in qualifying down to finding his rhythm in the VF-25 as he said in the print media zone.
“Generally, I’ve had a good rhythm all weekend, and I felt really confident with the car. This is what I’ve been telling the team, but they didn’t have anything to back it up yet. And then after Q1 and Q2, that was really where I started pushing the car and finally actually giving 100% everywhere.”
Unexpected Q3
Even though Bearman felt comfortable in the cockpit of the Haas around the winding corners of Suzuka. He confessed that Q3 was beyond his expectations.
In Q1 he was P12 as he put almost half a second into Esteban Ocon who got eliminated. An improvement of 0.7s in Q2 saw him finish a brilliant P8, before hitting his limit in Q3.
“I didn’t expect to go to Q2 either, so I was pretty happy to be in Q3 at the end. Yeah, I don’t think any of us expected that after everything that happened so far this weekend.”
With the disrupted sessions throughout the first part of the weekend due to crashes and grass fires, Bearman was unclear on the exact pace the VF-25 had, especially on the soft compound tyres as they did not get a run on them in final practice.
“It’s been quite difficult, very interrupted sessions this morning and yesterday afternoon. I haven’t actually got a lap on the board on softs since FP1. So to get out there and really build it up and have a good qualifying. I’m really proud of the team and myself as well.”
Suzuka is often beloved by drivers and fans alike. With its characteristic winding high-speed corners, it is known as one the tracks where the driver plays a massive role in the performance.
The expectations for Ollie Bearman in the F1 Japanese GP
For Ollie Bearman to get himself into Q3 while his teammate got bumped in Q1 at the Japanese GP is an impressive sign of the Brit’s talent. When asked about what the potential was for the race, the rookie was quietly hopeful to fight Albon and Hadjar.
“I mean, I hope to fight the guys in front, not behind. But no, I mean, starting within the points, which is always good. And I think we have better race pace relative to quali pace.
“So far this weekend on the soft tyre, we haven’t really been extracting everything. So to be in Q3 on our weakest tyre is a good thing. And I felt quite comfortable on the medium and the hard this weekend.”
He admitted that the possibility of rain will mean anything can happen and he’ll be hoping to take advantage of the chaos if the rain comes.
