Ollie Bearman left Monaco Grand Prix qualifying frustrated, believing he had more than enough pace to progress comfortably into Q2 before an ill-timed yellow flag derailed his session.
The Haas Formula 1 driver endured a difficult start to Saturday in Monte Carlo, causing a red flag in the final practice session. Bearman described the incident as the “strangest” of his career, after picking up dust whilst trying to avoid traffic ahead.
After a speedy repair by his team, the 21-year-old was able to take part in qualifying despite the heavy collision. Bearman showed a strong pace early in the session, posting lap times close to his midfield rivals. The Briton was confident he had the pace to make it through the first stage of qualifying.
“The lap that I was on, when it went yellow, was easily enough to be in the top ten,” Bearman told media, including Motorsport Week.
“At that stage of quali, it would have easily got us through into Q2.”
However, in true Monaco fashion, a yellow flag derailed his session. Gabriel Bortoleto’s late incident, triggered the yellow and eventual red flags, forcing Bearman to abandon his flying lap. A strong lap the Haas driver felt, was goof enough to potentially challenge for a place in the top 10.
“I really think we had what it takes to be fighting on the verge of Q3 today. And, obviously, qualifying is where it counts.
So, I’m really sad to be standing here.”
When the session was resumed, drivers were forced to change their warm-up approach as only two minutes remained. Having spent the entire weekend using a different warm-up approach, Bearman’s final attempt saw his tyres be ten degrees below optimum temperature.
“So, my tyres were kind of 10 degrees too cold. I was sliding all over the place for the whole lap. Yeah, just not enough grip to put together a lap there at the end….
I was pushing 110%, giving it everything, because I knew I needed an everything lap to get through. But, really, the grip was just nowhere.”
Trouble at Haas?
Ollie Bearman also cleared the air on his relationship with team-mate Esteban Ocon, following a fiery radio exchange between both drivers yesterday. During practice, both Bearman and Ocon took to their radios to question each other’s on-track behaviour.
Bearman, unimpressed by his experienced team-mate, said to his race engineer, “What an idiot, man. That was so stupid from Esteban.”
When asked if there were any tensions within the American outfit, Bearman remained apologetic for his heated radio exchange.
“Yeah, no, it was a misunderstanding. At the start of pre-practise in Monaco, everyone’s kind of backing up in the last sector,” Bearman stated
“I think Esteban was not clear on what I was doing, and I was not clear on what Esteban was doing. So, you know, in the heat of the moment, I said something that I regret…
There’s never any issue. I think we both understand that, in the heat of the moment, we say things that we don’t necessarily mean.”
Bearman will start tomorrow’s Grand Prix from the tenth row, in 19th place. His team-mate Ocon will line up ahead of him, both pushing to score crucial points for Haas.
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