Oliver Bearman has said he does not regret the move he made on Pierre Gasly during the United States Grand Prix, despite it eventually putting him out of the race.
The incident occurred during the early laps of Sunday’s Formula 1 race in Texas, following the end of the Virtual Safety Car that had neutralised the race while marshals removed debris from the track.
Bearman: Haas are “not fast enough” to not take risks
Bearman launched his car down the inside of Gasly through Turn 13, causing the two to make contact. While the Haas driver moved ahead, he had suffered significant damage to his car’s floor, and was handed a 10-second penalty from the stewards shortly after. Bearman was later forced to retire due to the damage.
Speaking to F1 media after the race, Bearman expressed frustration at the penalty, suggesting it was unfair.
“I went up his [Gasly’s] inside, he saw me because he left space but for me it didn’t really feel like enough. It was a bit of space but only half a car and by the time I was committed, I wasn’t disappearing,” he said.
“So we made a bit of contact, I picked up a huge amount of damage on my car. I probably damaged Pierre’s car as well. It was a shame because I felt like I was massively penalised for it and it actually ruined my race to have that amount of damage.
“I was losing a second a lap due to downforce and on top of that, I picked up a penalty. In my view it was a racing incident.”
Bearman justified the move by pointing out Haas’s struggles to contend with other midfield teams like Alpine and Racing Bulls.
“To be honest, I don’t regret going for the move because at this stage if we don’t do something special and get a bit lucky, be aggressive and go for it, then we’re not going to score points because we’re not fast enough to do that on merit,” he said.
Gasly’s race hindered by damage from Bearman collision
Gasly went on to pick up a single point from the race, finishing P10. However, he claims the damage his car suffered as a result of the collision with Bearman prevented him from being able to battle Liam Lawson for P9.
“I’m pleased because after the contact with Ollie, we had quite a big damage on the floor,” he said.
“It was a small touch honestly and I didn’t expect the floor to be that damaged following it. But considering the pace after that and the fact we managed to hold onto P10, it’s positive.”
He continued: “I think [the overtake] was a little optimistic, not crazy, but a little optimistic.
“Unfortunately there was this touch which cost us and cost probably 5-10 seconds of race time following it. It was not ideal, but at the same time, he tried it. It just wasn’t the cleanest move.”
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