Oliver Bearman has highlighted how a limitation with Haas’ 2025 Formula 1 car hampered his advances in Formula 1’s Singapore Grand Prix, despite scoring points.
The British driver produced a solid showing on his debut appearance at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, translating the potential he has shown over one lap into points.
Bearman’s race didn’t begin on an ideal note, though, as Isack Hadjar tagged him going into the opening corner at the start, forcing him to run across the run-off area.
“It was a shame. I need to review it,” Bearman told media including Motorsport Week.
“I don’t exactly know what happened, but I think he [Fernando Alonso] was also in between [Lewis] Hamilton and myself.
“From the way we were braking into the corner, I had no expectation that Hamilton would go early and it would be three wide.
“But I actually haven’t seen it yet, so I don’t want to pass any comment on it. It was a shame to lose the position to Fernando on that lap, but then we inherited it again after the stops.”
As the race developed, Bearman’s progress was then impeded when he approached the long-running Carlos Sainz, who executed a mammoth opening stint.
“Unfortunately, I just got stuck behind Carlos for what felt like 90 laps,” he recounted.
“We were quite poor all race well, I was quite poor all race in Turn 5 and Turn 11, which are basically two incredibly important corners if you want to set up an overtake.
“And I was just really struggling with the car balance through that.”
How a Haas weakness was exposed in Singapore
Elaborating on why he was struggling to overtake Sainz, Bearman cited a common limitation with Haas’ 2025 challenger that stunted his eventual run to ninth place.
“Struggling with oversteer in Turn 5. It’s one of the faster corners on the track. Just there I was really struggling with the rear of the car and the entry and exit,” he explained.
“The fact that I was bad in that corner meant that I was vulnerable and also I couldn’t attack cars ahead. And then Turn 11, I just couldn’t really ride the kerbs very well there.
“We’re known to be quite stiff over the kerbs. That’s one of the things we have to deal with to get performance out of this car.”
Fortunately for Bearman, Haas is bringing an upgrade package to the next race in Austin, which he is hoping will provide a boost through the remaining six rounds.
“We have an upgrade coming next week,” he revealed.
“Baku was a bit of a case of missed opportunity because we had a similar car pacing, even better than what we had this weekend.
“So, it’s just come away with some points. It’s a good feeling and it’s going to give us some momentum heading into the next few races.”
READ MORE – How Oliver Bearman has helped Esteban Ocon find the F1 ‘home’ he desired at Haas
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