Haas driver Ollie Bearman showcased an outstanding performance at the F1 Bahrain GP, racing from the back of the grid to secure a points finish, backing up Esteban Ocon in P8.
Bearman ceded his Haas seat to rookie driver Ryo Hirakawa during the opening practice session of the F1 Bahrain GP weekend.
A choice that hindered his performance in subsequent sessions, as the Briton lacked confidence.
In Qualifying for the Bahrain GP, Bearman was eliminated in Q1, after the Haas driver struggled with front locking.
Bearman battled his way through the field to finish the race in P10. A great start was key as he quickly made up five spots on the opening tour.
Uphill battle fighting for P9 and P10 in the closing stages
Speaking in the print media zone, the 19-year-old recalled that the closing laps reminded him of karting or racing in F2 or F3.
“Tough is an understatement. It was a war. It was a proper race out there.
“Those last 10-15 laps were reminding me of karting or F2 or F3. Just flat out giving everything and seeing where we end up.
“I’m also happy to take home the points from today.”
After a difficult Qualifying session that saw Bearman start the race from last, everything came together during the race.
Asked whether he was surprised by the pace shown by Haas, Bearman says that he was not as the VF-25 is consistently stronger in race trim than qualifying trim.
“No, not at all.
“I think we showed in the test that we had good race pace.
“Of course, both cars starting out of position.
“I knew we had good pace today, and I knew if we started in the correct position, that we would have been challenging for points, but of course, starting 15th and 20th, I was thinking it was unlikely.
“But then with everything that happened, I think we were able to be on the right side of a few things with the safety car and also show a really good pace today.
“So I’m really proud of the team.”
Tyre management
Bearman cites tyre management as one of the tougher challenges during the Bahrain GP.
The Briton noted that it was particularly challenging in traffic, where tyres overheated, which proved tricky in his attempts to move forward initially, and then hang on at the end.
In clean air, his tyres recovered and Bearman was able to steer his Haas into the points.
“Yes, of course this track is very difficult for tyre management.
“It’s very rough and abrasive which makes the tyres overheat a lot.
“When you follow in traffic like this, it’s very difficult to control those tyre temperatures.
“A lot of times I was actually struggling with my tyres a lot when I was following and then struggling to overtake.
“But once I did overtake, I was regaining some tyre performance.
“So, it’s really hard to manage how it goes.
“And we’re lucky that it’s a bit cooler than it was for the rest of the weekend because it’s really tough, the overheating on a track like this.
Battling Tsunoda and Antonelli
On his charge into the Top 10, Bearman was involved in fierce battles with Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda and Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli.
Fresh out of a fresh set of soft compound tyres, Bearman attempted to overtake Tsunoda.
Ultimately, it was a losing battle for the Haas pilot with his tyre advantage disappearing and a solid defensive drive from the Red Bull Driver.
“I was trying to overtake Yuki, but I didn’t quite have enough pace to overtake him.
“Of course, I was on a new soft, he was on a used, so I had a bit of a grip advantage.
“But the thing is, with every lap more that you do, that advantage is dropping.
“I wasn’t quite able to overtake him, and he did a great defence.
“I felt like he did a great attack, but not great enough.
“And then there were a few moments where it was looking like Kimi was going to get me.
“But I was doing quali laps in the last 10 laps, especially in sector 3, to try and keep him behind.
“I was glad that we had a bit of straight-line speed today, which allowed us to hold on.”
Bearman showed impressive defensive skills fending off the Mercedes of his former F2 teammate Kimi Antonelli to finish the Bahrain GP in tenth position.
The Haas driver notes that turn 1 was the closest Antonelli got to launching an attack, but Bearman was able to keep the Italian behind lap after lap.
“Yeah, I know what Kimi is like, which is good because I know he’s not reckless or crazy, let’s say.
“So, I know he’s not going to go for an overtake that’s not possible, let’s say.
“The only place that he was close to overtaking me was in Turn 1, every lap.
“And that’s, of course, a really tight corner where you can always try something.
“But I was just about able to hold him off, which was a really good feeling.”
Encouraging trend
Apart from the rain-marred season opener in Australia, the Haas team has scored points on a consistent basis.
Despite the positive trend, Bearman remains cautious about the prospect of the continuance of this trend.
However, the 19-year-old Haas driver is “encouraged” by the great pace shown on tracks with varying characteristics.
“Yeah, you’re right.
“We’ve scored points in every race since Australia.
“I’m still being a little bit glass half-empty because I don’t want to get ahead of ourselves.
“But I think we’ve shown great pace on three different types of circuit.
“This one, very high degradation. China, very low degradation.
“Suzuka, very high downforce and high-speed corners.
“And all of them we’ve shown great pace.
“I’m really encouraged by the package so far, and hopefully, we can keep it up.”
