Ollie Bearman has lamented what he has called his worst weekend of the year following a challenging Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix.
Bearman endured a nightmare in Hungary, with his Q1 elimination acting as an omen for what was to come for the rest of the weekend.
His P17 grid spot also came with a less-than-ideal feat as he was outqualified by the newly upgraded AMR26 of Fernando Alonso.
Falling behind in the race rapidly he then received a five-second time penalty for ignoring blue flags, eventually finishing last, 2 laps down on the leaders.
Bearman offered a grim assessment of his weekend in Hungary, and confirmed he did not have “malicious” intent towards Hadjar. A technical issue affected the GPS system, which in some cases did not warn drivers of faster cars coming up behind to lap them.
“It was definitely the worst [weekend] of the year,” he said after the race.
“I feel bad about the blue flag penalty with Hadjar because honestly, it was a bit of a nightmare out there.
“You go through basically the infield, you don’t have time to check in the mirrors, and basically every lap I did, I had blue flag screens coming up.
“This race, they weren’t working properly. So, it was tough to know if it was you, or the car behind, or the car ahead, or whatever, getting the blue flag. So, obviously, it wasn’t malicious.
“I’m a lap down. I’m not trying to do anything bad. But obviously, I feel bad for anyone’s race that I may have compromised.”
Lack of understanding hindering Oliver Bearman?
Bearman then gave a telling summary of his weekend, one in which he has struggled to find confidence, and raised concerns over the inconsistent performances of the VF0-26 in recent races.
“It’s just been a horrible weekend,” he rued.
“From the first lap that I’ve done until now, I’ve not been able to find any confidence, and it’s like all that progress we made over the last two events, maybe, has been erased, and we’re back to square one.
“I don’t understand how we go to Spa and have such a competitive feeling and confidence with the car, and then come here, and the car is an absolute nightmare to drive. So, we think we understand why, and that’s important, but we need to go through things properly before the next race.”
Bearman and Haas are facing a new onslaught on top of F1’s ultra-competitive midfield – Aston Martin’s revised car. Haas had no answer to their speed in either qualifying or the race in Hungary placing the team in a precarious position.
While only one race, the circuit characteristics of Zandvoort, coupled with a new power unit from Honda, risk Haas moving from a midfield contender to being relegated in Q1. Bearman’s lack of confidence in the car indicates there is work to be done to move forward, and not a great deal of time to do it in.
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