Ollie Bearman slams Haas for ‘totally screwed’ Bahrain GP strategy

Oliver Bearman did not hold back after the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia when discussing his frustration with the strategy that Haas put him on for the race.

The British rider was determined to start the race on intermediate tyres, which would have been the correct strategy for the conditions at the Sepang International Circuit at the time.

However, without his knowledge, Haas decided to start Bearman on slick tyres, as they ran a split strategy with Ocon, who started behind Bearman, on intermediate tyres.

The 21-year-old felt ‘hard done by’ with Haas’ decision by choosing to start him on slick tyres as he believed he had the pace to fight for points at the Sepang International Circuit, but instead ended the weekend in 14th place, ahead of Ocon, who was in 15th.

“My throttle pedal worked, which was a good start, but I ended up on slicks, and that was the wrong choice,” Bearman explained. 

“It wasn't my choice. I was adamant that we start on inters, and there was a zero percent chance that we would put the slick, but the team decided to put me on the slick at the last minute, which I didn't know about. 

“Obviously, the decision was made to split the cars from strategy. I didn't agree with it, and in hindsight, I still don't agree with it. However, if it worked, we would have looked like heroes, so I'm not blaming anyone; it's just one of those things. 

“However, being the lead car at that point—I was ahead of Esteban—I feel a bit hard done by to be given the riskier strategy, because normally, the lead car should be given the strategy that's a bit more normal, and the gamble should be taken with the second car. 

“I felt like I was the one who took the gamble, and after the first safety car, I didn't even catch them back up. I ended up 40 seconds behind the midfield. 

“I was still super quick; I had great pace on the hard, managed to overtake the Alpine and pull away, and it was just a shame because I felt like that decision to start me on the soft totally screwed my race. I lost so much race time, I couldn't do anything about it. 

“On that side, I'm really sad because the car was quick. I think the conditions played into our hands today with the weather being a bit cooler, but I really feel like that was a chance of points or fighting for points today, because, you know, he was up there, so yeah, it's a shame.”