Oliver Bearman watched his Bahrain GP get totally screwed by Haas’s regrettable strategy call, a decision that went directly against his clear warning. The young Brit had learned his lesson from Silverstone: you just don’t run slicks on drying tarmac. But during the delayed start in Bahrain, with the track conditions begging for intermediates, Haas threw a curveball that cost Bearman dearly.
Haas Disregarded a Driver’s Plea
The conditions in Bahrain were tricky, with a suspended starting procedure forcing drivers to pick their poison: intermediates or a bold gamble on slicks. While some teams split strategies or stuck together, the intermediate compound was pretty much a no-brainer as the right call. A few cars bailed on the slick gamble early, but for Bearman, it was already too late. Haas decided to split their cars, and get this, they put Bearman, their lead driver at the time, on slicks. His teammate, Esteban Ocon, stuck with intermediates and ended up in a solid position inside the Top 10. Bearman? He plummeted down the order. Post-race, Bearman was crystal clear: it wasn’t his choice. He begged the team not to put him on slicks.
“I ended up on slicks and that was the wrong choice,” Bearman said after the race. “It wasn’t my choice. I was adamant that we start on inter and there was a 0% chance that we put the slick. But the team decided to put me on the slick at the last minute which I didn’t know about.” He didn’t agree with the decision then, and he still doesn’t agree with it now. He felt “hard done by” that he, the lead car, was given the risky strategy. Usually, you roll the dice with the second car, right?
The Decision That Screwed His Race
This botched call absolutely torpedoed Bearman’s race. After the first safety car, he found himself a staggering 40 seconds behind the midfield. Forty seconds! It’s soul-crushing when you know you’ve got the pace, but the strategy sidelines you. He was “super quick,” rocking “great pace on the hard” tires and even managed to overtake an Alpine and pull away. But the damage was already done. “I ended up 40 seconds behind the midfield, so I was still super quick, I had great pace on the hard, managed to overtake the Alpine and pull away,” Bearman explained. “It was just a shame because I felt like that decision to start me on the soft totally screwed my race. I lost so much race time, I couldn’t do anything about it.”
Bearman was clearly gutted, knowing the car was fast and the conditions were favorable. He believes there was a genuine “chance of points or fighting for points today,” but that gamble killed it. He’s hoping the team learns from this epic misstep and actually listens to their drivers when it comes to critical decisions. Because on that out lap, on the formation lap, it was obvious: slicks were the wrong call. Bearman was losing time just driving around on them. This one stings for sure, and you gotta feel for the guy when he knew exactly what was up.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
Leave a Reply