Haas driver Oliver Bearman finished sixth at the Dutch GP in Zandvoort – his best result so far in Formula 1. Despite qualifying 19th on Saturday, he started the race from the pit lane. After several safety cars and pit stops, Bearman managed to work his way up to 7th position at the very last restart and benefited from a penalty for Andrea Kimi Antonelli. After the race, Bearman was visibly surprised and relieved: “I don’t know what happened in the last two hours!”
Difficult Saturday, Brilliant Sunday
As has often been the case this season, Haas had a tough qualifying session. Bearman seemed to be doing well in his first lap in Q1, but couldn’t improve and fell back to nineteenth place. His teammate Esteban Ocon also failed in the first part of the qualifying, settling for the eighteenth time. After the qualifying, Bearman was asked by F1TV about his prospects for the race: “I’m not very hopeful, but we’ll see what we can do.”
After a disappointing Saturday, Haas decided to take a different approach: a start from the pit lane, combined with an engine change and an alternative tyre strategy. Bearman started on the hard compound and managed to drive 54 laps with it, putting himself in a strong position for the end of the race.
Strong Final Sprint
During a safety car period, Bearman came in for a set of mediums. Immediately after the restart, Bearman began his overtaking manoeuvres. He passed Bortoleto, Fernando Alonso and Pierre Gasly, moving from eleventh to eighth position. But it didn’t stop there: after Lando Norris dropped out, he moved up another place, and thanks to a time penalty for Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Bearman eventually finished in a respectable sixth place. After the race, Bearman was both honest and combative: “I absolutely needed this result; I made too many mistakes in the first part of the year. This weekend was not perfect, especially not in qualifying. The potential is there, the car is fantastic and I have full confidence for the last nine Grands Prix.”
