Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur was significantly impressed by Oliver Bearman at the Mexico Grand Prix and briefly thought he was set for his maiden podium in Formula 1.
The 20-year-old finished fourth for Haas at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez on Sunday, marking his best career result to date and joint-best for the American team.
Bearman, who started ninth, climbed up to sixth on the opening tour thanks to a congested Turn 1, before completing a double overtake on Max Verstappen and George Russell during lap six.
Both went wide out of Turn 5 following their scrappy wheel-to-wheel with Lewis Hamilton, who took the Turn 4 escape road but received a 10s penalty for gaining an advantage by doing so.
Bearman consequently inherited third but dropped behind Verstappen in the pits late on, after the four-time world champion successfully operated a one-stop strategy.
It was still an impressive drive from Bearman, who is in his first, full season after making three substitute appearances last year, which included his debut for Ferrari with seventh in Jeddah.
“At one stage, I was thinking about a podium for him,” said Vasseur of the former Ferrari junior. “He did very well. But if you have a look from the beginning of the season, he’s doing well.
Frederic Vasseur, Ferrari
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / LAT Images via Getty Images
“Quite often, he had a small issue in the weekend, either in quali or in the race and this weekend, he put everything together. He made zero mistakes and he’s paying off.
“It’s good also for the team to have two cars up in the points. Congratulations to Ayao [Komatsu, Haas team principal] and to Ollie.”
Mexico was Bearman’s seventh points finish of the year, including his third in-a-row, meaning he is now 13th in the championship and ahead of his grand prix-winning team-mate Esteban Ocon.
Ocon still performed well in Mexico though as he finished ninth, which left Haas with its second double points score since the August summer break moving it up to eighth in the constructors’ standings.
So, Haas has gathered momentum in the second half of the year and Bearman reckons it all led up to his moment in Mexico, having also been impressed by how he fought off quicker cars.
“It feels great,” the Briton said. “We had a great race, of course I was lucky to be where I was before the first stop, but actually we had the pace to stay there.
Esteban Ocon, Haas F1 Team, Oliver Bearman, Haas F1 Team, Ayao Komatsu, Haas F1 Team
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Formula 1 via Getty Images
“I held off Max in the first stint, I held off the Mercs in the second and I held off the McLaren in the third one, so I was under a lot of pressure.
“I spent more time looking in my rearview mirrors than in front, but that’s sometimes how it has to be. I’m really, really proud of the team because that really validates all the hard work we’ve been doing over the past few races.”
Bearman hopes the Mexico result can act as a springboard for years to come: “I didn’t expect to be racing a McLaren or a Red Bull or a Merc or even fighting with a Ferrari in a way this year.
“I expected that in future years, but to do it already this year is a very special feeling and I think that motivates everyone to hopefully do that again in the near future.”
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