Ollie Bearman brands “sketchy” Las Vegas GP “least enjoyable street track” in F1

Haas driver Ollie Bearman has labelled the Las Vegas GP as the “least enjoyable street track” he has ever driven.

The British driver was well down the order on the timesheets after the opening two practice sessions.

Bearman was 16th in FP1 and 17th in FP2 on a difficult day for Haas.

He wasn’t overly impressed with his first taste of the Vegas street circuit.

The cold track temperatures and long straights make finding grip extremely difficult.

After practice, Bearman delivered a scathing assessment of the track.

“This is the least enjoyable street track I’ve driven,” Bearman told Sky after FP2.

“Normally they’re really, really fun and great. This one is really, really low grip, which is not a great combination when you have the walls very close.

“It’s incredibly high speed, which is dangerous. I mean the track itself is cool to be racing down the Strip in Las Vegas, but aside from that there’s not much good stuff.”

Bearman “shocked” by lack of grip

Naturally, the track will continue to improve in terms of grip as the weekend progresses.

However, rain earlier in the day washed away any rubber that had been laid down, effectively resetting the surface.

Bearman admitted that he was “shocked” by how little grip there was.

“Honestly, those first few laps I did in FP1… Of course, it’s a new track for me, [but] I was shocked by how low the grip was. It’s sketchy out there,” he explained.

“I don’t know even how to describe the low level of grip that we experienced, but, in turn, that means that the evo is incredibly high.

“So, you know, even in that session, we were quite early to get onto the soft tyre.

“I didn’t manage to do a lap on the softs, but that meant that when I boxed, I was in a good position, and by the time I went to go out again, I suddenly was five or six tenths [of a second] further away from the front.

“So, yeah, definitely big evo. It was a tricky session with the rain, with the traffic and with the interruptions, but I think we learned a lot.

“The track is new for me, so I’m also finding my rhythm around here. So I’m excited for tomorrow.”

Bearman will be hopeful of extending his recent points-scoring streak.

The 20-year-old has scored points for Haas in the last four consecutive races, including a P4 finish in Mexico City.