Ollie Bearman wants Haas to understand some of his weaknesses despite starting from the Dutch Grand Prix pit lane and securing a career-high sixth place.
Haas chose to change the Bareman engine. He was the lateest in 19th place among those who set the time in the first quarter, with teammate Esteban Ocon numbering 18th. Before the safety car allowed him to have a free pit stop, he ran a set of hard tires on the first 53 laps of the race, and Bareman says luck was by his side to secure a top six spot.
“It’s certainly a long time coming,” Bareman said. “We are definitely lucky, but starting from the pit lane, we need a bit of luck to get up there.
“It was really hard to hold those tires temperatures when the treads get thinner, so it was about restarting the tires after all safety cars. And I was first (Gabriel) Boltreto, then Esteban. Then Esteban.
“It’s certainly hard to overtake this truck. As long as you’re in the DRS or the car in front of you, you’re not really going to be overtaken. So I was pushing like hell to make sure you’re staying in the DRS.”
Bearman finished 11th in four of his previous five races, but the point is a welcome return, but says Saturday’s struggle will need to understand both Haas’s side and himself.
“It’s great and I think we deserve a bit of luck. There are still some more this weekend that we need to understand as a team with the same token. Our FP3 performance was two half stories between hard and soft tires.
“So I understand a bit why it was so late at the end of Quali, not performance even in FP3. I think as a team we need to meet together and work harder, but we’re getting there.
Team principal Ayao Komatsu was unhappy with Haas’s performance in qualifying, but praised the team’s response on Sunday, especially the way they handled multiple safe vehicle periods to score both cars on points, as Ocon was categorized as 10th place.
“It was a tough day (Saturday) so I’m really proud of the team’s efforts,” Komatsu said. “Starting P18 and in the pit lane, Chance was against us, but we can never give up, thank you to everyone on our team.
“We started with hard compounds, but the timing of the first safety car was totally against us. It was perfect for a medium starter. The response at that point was to stay calm and focused.
“As I always say, we have to get the basics right and we believe we did it, and both drivers are great team players and I can’t blame it.
