Bearman wants to ‘go home and reset’ after São Paulo pit stop frustration
Oliver Bearman started the São Paulo Grand Prix from sixth on the grid and finished it 17th, a lap down, as Haas left Interlagos without a point.
Bearman had qualified eighth in a rain-hit session and moved up to sixth after grid penalties for Mercedes’ George Russell and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. His opening lap was tense.
Fernando Alonso ran wide at Turn 3 to avoid the Haas and dropped into the midfield, while Lewis Hamilton, climbing from the back of the grid, went off at Turn 5 to pass Bearman before giving the place back.
Bearman played the incident down. “I had a bit of a moment at the start, but nothing major,” he said. “I lost a few spots, but managed to gain back a few again, so it was net zero.”
The race began on intermediate tyres, with the field switching to slicks by lap 14 before late rain sent everyone back to intermediates by lap 61. Bearman put his afternoon down to the pit stops. “After that I just had some very slow pit stops, and I couldn’t fight with that,” he said.
The stewards also gave him a five-second penalty after the race for an unsafe release in the final round of stops, when he was sent into the path of Leclerc and forced the Ferrari driver to check up in the pit lane. The penalty did not change his finishing position.
There was little for Bearman to take from the weekend. “Not a whole lot. I just want to go home and reset,” he said.
The result added to a difficult run. Bearman retired from the United States Grand Prix in Austin, where contact with Pierre Gasly earned him a 10-second penalty and left him with damage, and he went out again in Mexico City after contact with Nico Hülkenberg.
“It’s been a horrible three weeks, we’ve missed two opportunities to score points, and I just need to move on and do better,” he said.
Up front, Lando Norris converted pole position into victory, with Max Verstappen charging from 21st on the grid to second and Isack Hadjar completing the podium. Russell and Kimi Antonelli finished fourth and fifth, enough to clinch the constructors’ championship for Mercedes.
Bearman’s new team-mate Rafael Câmara finished 20th on his debut, two laps down. Haas remain seventh in the constructors’ standings on 31 points, with Bearman on 23.
Formula One returns in Las Vegas in two weeks, the first of the final three rounds, giving Bearman and Haas a chance to start the reset he is after.
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