Haas stand-in Ollie Bearman was dissatisfied with out-qualifying team-mate Nico Hulkenberg during qualifying for the Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, saying he “should have been in Q3.”
The 19-year-old British driver is racing for Haas this weekend as Kevin Magnussen serves a one-race ban.
Bearman has impressed throughout and only missed out on the top-10 Q3 shootout by one position on Saturday.
Moreover, Bearman finished three places ahead of team-mate and qualifying specialist Hulkenberg, but that wasn’t enough.
Frustrated, the teenager exclaimed (via Motorsport.com), “I should have been in Q3.
“I’m tough on myself because I know that the car could have done more.
“If I felt like the car was fast enough for P11, then I would be really happy right now, but the car was definitely quick enough to be in Q3, so that’s why I’m disappointed.”
Bearman explained a slide through the castle section of the Baku City Circuit cost him the chance to progress.
“It was coming up the castle,” he began. “I was a bit deep in Turn 11. I had a snap into 12 and I lost enough time to stop me from the final round of qualifying.”
Practice crash hampered qualifying run, says Bearman
The self-critique didn’t stop there as Bearman discussed the impact of his crash in final practice.
The Haas understudy was seen locking up into Turn 1 before making a late attempt to avoid the barriers, which didn’t pay off.
“It definitely put me on the back foot,” he said.
“I think not in confidence, but for example the mistake I made in qualifying, I’m sure I would have already done this mistake in FP3 and figured out how to not do that, so we just lost a lot of mileage.
“First of all, I didn’t account for the track differences, because I basically started from where I left off in FP2, but the track took a step backwards.
“I braked a bit later than I did in FP2 and just went a bit deep. It wasn’t a big issue, but when I tried to get out of it, it was so slippery off the line that I didn’t manage in time.”
Bearman is not unlike many of his F1 contemporaries in being self-critical.
Amid his pessimism, Bearman made sure to praise his mechanics for getting his Haas ready for qualifying.
“I gave the guys a huge job,” he said. “They finished the car like five minutes before we went out, so a huge shout-out to them because they worked tirelessly.
“I’m a bit disappointed just because I feel like I could have been in Q3 if I had gotten those extra two soft-tyre runs in FP3.
“At this stage of my career those are super valuable.”
