Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur has heaped praise on Oliver Bearman as his fourth-place finish in the Formula 1 Mexico City Grand Prix continues to raise his profile.
Moving into a podium spot after a tussle involving Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, Bearman’s pace kept him ahead of some of F1’s biggest names.
Although Verstappen took third place back, Bearman still held off both Mercedes, showing he can handle the immense pressure at the front of the grid in F1.
Part of the Ferrari Driver Academy, his racecraft and result attracted the attention of Ferrari Team Principal Vasseur, who praised the Briton’s mature showing.
Vasseur highlighted that Bearman has been impressive since the campaign began, but his breakthrough in Mexico came down to putting a weekend together.
“At one stage, I was thinking about a podium for him,” Vasseur told media including Motorsport Week. “He did very well.
“But if you have a look from the beginning of the season, he’s doing well.
“Quite often, he had a small issue in the weekend, either in quali or in the race and this weekend, he put everything together. He made zero mistakes and he’s paying off.
“It’s good also for the team to have two cars up in the points. Congratulations to Ayao [Komatsu, Haas team principal] and to Oli.”
The collective team effort behind Haas’ special result
Meanwhile, Haas boss Ayao Komatsu praised both Bearman and the team, explaining the decisions that culminated in it achieving its equal-best result in the sport.
“We always saw huge talent and every single time we just are learning and we are improving and then since Singapore he’s been putting weekends together,” he said.
“In Austin, there was a couple of things in the sprint [race] and [grand prix] but other than that he was mega. And here, what can I say? He hasn’t put a foot wrong, has he? It’s just amazing.
“Then Max [pitted] and when those guys started converting into two stops, for me it was about risk management.
“For what we are fighting for, we really needed to secure P4, and then, that was the best chance to cover and then go for it.
“Then again, after that pitstop, we were fighting against [George] Russell and [Oscar] Piastri. Mercedes-Benz and McLaren, what a privilege to fight those guys. The whole team’s done a fantastic job.”
“It was just a big team effort. We’ve always been there this season, fighting, and then never had a big result.
“But what a team effort. Ollie drove fantastic. The tyre guys gave us completely the right information, the strategy guys did an amazing job, race engineer, performance engineer, everyone giving the right information to the driver, communicating.”
READ MORE – Why Oliver Bearman backed Haas’ decision to sacrifice potential F1 Mexico GP podium
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