Oliver Bearman had a near-miss incident with Isack Hadjar on the first lap of the Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix, with both drivers thankful to escape unscathed and still running.
The duo were fighting for sixth place around Turn 13 when Hadjar lost control of his Red Bull, spinning completely mid-way through the corner.
Luckily, Bearman was quick to avoid the incident by going off into the run-off area, narrowly evading being collected by the Frenchman’s car.
Hadjar revealed that his RB22 “snapped out of me,” adding he had no time to correct it.
Despite that, Hadjar recovered across the Grand Prix, taking the chequered flag in eighth place, collecting four points.
Equally Bearman appeared in the media pen after taking a mighty fifth place, relieved that the accident wasn’t more serious.
“I was so lucky, to be honest, to avoid that,” he said. “I mean, I’m lucky to be standing here.
“Honestly, that would have been a monster shunt. It was a really tricky corner, that whole race, with the wind today. It was just all over the place, the car balance, I think, for everyone – well, I hope for everyone, because it was tough for me.
“And I saw with Isack, you know, we were pushing hard and, to be honest, it felt like the corner was done and the next thing I know, he’s sideways and then, I’m trying to avoid him in one tenth of a second. I went left, I had to go off track to avoid, and I ended up back in last again.”
Battles to start the season
The Briton admitted it hadn’t been an easy start to the season for him, finding himself caught up in incidents and falling through the order in the early laps of both China and Australia.
“So, both of my races this year, Australia and China, I’ve ended up pretty much last after lap one. But we’re getting there, and the race was fantastic after that.”
Yet, Bearman stormed to take fifth by the end of the race. Only being outperformed by the two Ferraris and Mercedes.
“Yeah, I made some overtakes on track,” Bearman said. “You know, I was quicker than the RBs, and I was quicker than the Audi at that stage. That was strong, and the car felt great.
“Then, you know, we picked up a great safety car timing. But I think with the bad luck on lap one, that was kind of cancelled out by the great timing of the safety car. Pretty much, I was back where I started after all of that, you know, I was right behind Pierre, which is where I was halfway through lap one before all of the mess. So, you know, that was great.
“The pace was really strong after that. I was able to clear the traffic and then, honestly, I was doing like 40 quali laps, which was good fun.”
Currently, Bearman sits fifth in the Drivers’ standings with 17 points. The recovery by the Haas driver has been impressive, and no doubt he’ll continue to contend for points and potentially a podium later in the season.
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