Oliver Bearman finished the qualifying session of the Dutch Grand Prix in Formula 1 in 15th place, after feeling an unexpected difference between the performance of the Haas car in the Sprint race and in qualifying. The Briton stated that the car felt more comfortable, but the lap time did not show up.
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“I’m really confused now after the qualifying session, because the feeling was much better and in the car I was a bit happier compared to yesterday and even this morning,” Bearman said. According to him, the tires and pace seemed competitive during the Sprint, but it was harder to extract performance in the qualifying session.
Esteban Ocon finished 14th and assessed that there was not much more to be done during Q1: “I think we couldn’t have been faster in the qualifying session, it’s three tenths to the car ahead of us. I did a very good, well-optimized lap, and there really was nothing we could have done better,” he said.
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The Frenchman also highlighted the need for new updates so that Haas can move forward on the grid: “We need the updates to arrive as soon as possible, which should happen at the next race, so we can fight further ahead,” he added.
Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu attributed part of Bearman’s result to tire conditions and traffic during the lap preparation. According to him, the driver was hindered by Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson and ‘lost a bit of tire preparation, so he had no grip.’ Komatsu, however, praised the team’s operation and stated that Ocon managed to show the real potential of the car, ahead of Alex Albon’s Williams.
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