Oliver Bearman believes that Haas have the potential for more points finishes in the second half of the 2025 season.
The British driver had four consecutive 11th place finishes prior to his retirement in Hungary, just one place outside of the points scoring positions. His rookie season so far has had ups and downs, with a highest finish of P8 but two DNFs, but Bearman remains optimistic about the rest of the year.
Speaking in the Thursday Press Conference at the Dutch GP, the 20-year-old admitted that it is easy to be frustrated by these results.
“I think we couldn’t do much more. Since Silverstone, we’ve had a really consistent run of results. Consistently just outside of the points, which is a shame.
“On one side, it’s easy to get frustrated by these results. But at the same time, to have four races where we were like that and very close to the points, is also quite promising. It shows that we can be there. But we just need a bit of fine-tuning to make that final step.”
Resetting over summer break
The Dutch GP is the first race back after the summer break. Bearman said that the break came “at a good time” to help him recharge and prepare for the second half of the year- his first full year in F1 after making the step up from F2.
“It was a nice break. It was fun. A lot of training to prepare for the second half of the season. It was also nice to spend time with my family and not think about racing for a few weeks. But quite quickly, I was bored of not being at the racetrack. And I’m happy to be back here in Zandvoort.
“The first half has been very intense – 14 races. Last year in Formula 2, that was a full season, and now we’ve done that before August.
“So, it’s a big change compared to what I’ve been used to. But I think the break has come at a good time to help me reset, and I’m looking forward to the second half. There have been some really high moments, but too many mistakes.”
Only one of Bearman’s DNFs was due to driver error, at the rainy season opener in Melbourne. But the Briton has received a number of heavy penalties, including a 10 place grid drop for overtaking under red flag conditions during practice in Monaco and another 10 place grid drop for crashing in the pitlane during practice in Silverstone.
Because of this, he has racked up 8 penalty points. Which puts him 4 away from an automatic race ban like Kevin Magnussen received for Baku last year- when Bearman stepped in for him. The formerly nicknamed ‘super-sub’ will be hoping for a clean race and a points finish at the Dutch GP this weekend.
