The day earlier than Motorsport.com sidled into the again of Haas’s storage on the 2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Oliver Bearman had already made a degree of attending to know all his mechanics working on this essential spot.
He’d gone round the entire Haas squad and stated hiya on Thursday – a brand new bundle of vitality after the American crew had gotten used to the laid-back unruffledness of two season professionals in Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg for the final two seasons.
His media duties then subsequently fulfilled, lastly, the enjoyable arrived the following day.
On Friday, having been allowed a comparative lie-in due to F1’s later schedule in comparison with the early System 2 periods he’d in any other case have been contesting for Prema Racing, Bearman was able to drive Magnussen’s VF-24.
We watch as he will get his helmet strapped on, takes in final phrases from his private assist crew (Enzo Mucci and Jamie Smith) and climbs aboard. Skilled F1 race engineer Mark Slade runs him by means of change and methods settings on the steering wheel, then it’s off for the primary of three runs – two medium stints both facet of a smooth run.
On this session, he’ll end eleventh forward of Hulkenberg, who endures a DRS drawback with out which there would’ve been a 0.4s hole – to the veteran’s benefit.
We will clearly hear extra driver teaching occurring from Magnussen’s engineering crew – Hulkenberg is digesting information himself when again within the storage and warns his crew about attainable flooring harm, whereas for Bearman it’s Slade recognizing a pitot tube sensor information anomaly that has mechanics diving to verify the right-rear diffuser.
Alex Kalinauckas, Autosport Journalist
Picture by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Pictures
However the primary takeaway from listening in to Bearman’s radio for the closely disrupted opening one-hour session is simply how silent he’s on the radio total. Solely pressing reporting “I’ve fairly dangerous graining” on a long term late within the session betrays a touch of trouble.
“That’s typical for rookies – they’re simply absorbing a lot,” explains Ed Model, driver efficiency engineer (for each Haas automobiles) and crew technique engineer.
Motorsport.com decamps to Baku’s chandelier-heavy lodge convention room media centre for FP2, however Haas insiders later report that this silent sponge strategy from Bearman carries on within the second Friday session. There, he finishes Tenth – this time two spots however simply 0.072s behind Hulkenberg.
Come Saturday, the paddock has woken as much as surprisingly leaden skies. After squeezing our well past the various city furnishings obstacles this observe is crammed towards, we’re watching trackside for FP3. However we barely get an opportunity to evaluate Bearman’s strategy to the Flip 4 difficult right-hander due to his weekend’s lowest second.
Having “braked so late into Flip 1 even in comparison with rather more aggressive automobiles, like [Charles] Leclerc”, per Haas crew boss Ayao Komatsu, Bearman was far too scorching into the left-hander on his first push lap. He ran out of room to keep away from smashing his left-front nook towards the barrier. The crew had warned him the observe situation was “actually poor” in keeping with his future crew boss.
The gradual begin to FP3 (due to its early drizzle) and Esteban Ocon’s first red-flag-causing stoppage all means Bearman doesn’t add to his two-lap complete. That is a lot to the chagrin of Motorsport Pictures and devoted Haas crew photographer Simon Galloway, who’d moved again from his Flip 5 exit spot to permit a marshal room to go and by no means noticed Bearman come by once more after he’d flashed by within the temporary meantime.
Bearman’s Haas mechanics face a quick rebuild forward of qualifying. However, having thanked the entire crew that acquired his automotive again to regular for that session, he then provides them a greater reward. He outqualifies Hulkenberg – at a observe the German driver detests – and comes inside 0.128s of constructing Q3, albeit knocked out in eleventh in Q2.
Oliver Bearman, Haas VF-24
Picture by: Dom Romney / Motorsport Pictures
“He underperformed by three tenths – clear mistake [going deep at Turn 11 by Baku’s castle and having to catch a snap at Turn 12 too],” says hard-taskmaster Komatsu.
Bearman’s personal annoyance comes throughout when he’s noticed slapping his steering wheel in frustration on his return to the pits. However Haas had been impressed with how he acquired again within the groove round Q1 yellow flags and the way “the time he did on that used smooth [in Q2 run one] is similar time as what Nico may do on new smooth”, per Komatsu.
Afterwards, Bearman shares a handshake with Hulkenberg within the media combined zone. Regardless of being short-term team-mates, and with Hulkenberg heading to Sauber/Audi for 2025, no less than slightly bond is alleged to have fashioned between the pair.
It was to Hulkenberg whom Bearman checked his later-than-dawn rising was regular for F1 drivers, whereas Motorsport.com understands additionally they shared loads of jokes in a Baku fanzone go to on Saturday too.
The race is a wild affair for Bearman. Beginning Tenth due to Lewis Hamilton’s pitlane-start penalty, his stint one tempo on the mediums is just too gradual and by lap 10 he’s requested to make approach for Hulkenberg.
The issue is two-fold. He’ll later say, “I simply misplaced lots of time within the first stint simply not driving very quick – I used to be simply saving the tyres an excessive amount of and that was not likely essential”. Komatsu can also be annoyed Haas didn’t “talk effectively sufficient [to say] that ‘that’s not a adequate tempo and we have to do one thing completely different’”.
“However that’s on our facet,” he provides.
Oliver Bearman, Haas VF-24, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W15
Picture by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Pictures
For stint two, Bearman rises again in direction of the fringes of the highest 10 the place Hulkenberg is scrapping with the Williams pair – impressively holding off the marauding Hamilton for 23 laps.
The hole between them is “like a yo-yo rather a lot”, per Bearman, as they steadily edge in direction of Hulkenberg’s place between Alex Albon and Franco Colapinto – as soon as the lead Williams has lastly pitted after which handed the lead Haas.
Then, with 10 laps left, Hamilton “pounced” – once more, in keeping with Bearman. With a fast DRS-assisted run down the lengthy Baku principal straight, Hamilton stays on the within line.
Maybe Bearman may’ve made positive to be on that piece of asphalt as an alternative, however he nonetheless earned credit score for judging his squeeze on the Mercedes and for making an attempt to hold on across the outdoors.
Assured a seven-time world champion wouldn’t “put me in a wall”, he provides what he can till the inevitable occurred and Hamilton is certainly flashing by on the exit of the scene of Bearman’s FP3 shunt.
His race appears set to finish with a plucky thirteenth, however then a number of issues mix in Bearman’s favour forward.
First, Hulkenberg loses the three-second hole he was having fun with to Williams’s personal short-term rookie Colapinto by clipping the wall approaching the tight, downhill Flip 15 left with three laps remaining. His tempo fearing a puncture is dear and Hulkenberg is then jumped by Colapinto into Flip 3 on the following tour.
Oliver Bearman, Haas F1 Group, with a team-mate
Picture by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Pictures
Then, within the aftermath of Sergio Perez and Carlos Sainz’s cack-handed collision, Hulkenberg strikes a bit of particles with the right-front he was already involved about and, as he’s “simply utterly flustered”, per Komatsu, does not react effectively sufficient to a inexperienced flag marker board being displayed forward of Flip 3 seconds later.
Right here, Hamilton shoots by, with Bearman having the nous to go along with him. It’s a essential transfer that secures his Tenth-place end and second stand-in factors for the 2024 marketing campaign after his Jeddah cameo instead of Sainz at Ferrari. “Undoubtedly cool” is Bearman’s evaluation of this achievement.
We head again down the quickly deconstructing paddock to go to Haas one final time on Sunday night with the solar setting on the shores of the Caspian Sea. Right here, we discover Komatsu: “Not good, however fairly spectacular,” he concludes.
Chatting with different Haas crew members throughout the weekend, it’s clear that Bearman has made a fair larger impression off-track.
His fast studying and quiet, self-deprecating perspective have hit the suitable notes for a crew that hasn’t loved the form of lofty glory of the squad the place Bearman stays a junior, Ferrari. It’s understood the Scuderia will likely be paying the Briton’s wages subsequent 12 months, whereas Haas can also be benefitting from his media-training slickness gleamed in its Academy.
Nevertheless it’s his perspective total that appears to have gone down so effectively, thus far, at Haas. ‘One among us already’ is the vibe.
