Oliver Bearman qualified in P8 at the 2025 F1 British Grand Prix, but the Haas driver will start the race in 18th due to a grid penalty.
In any other circumstance, the British driver’s excellent qualifying performance would be widely celebrated. However, an unfortunate crash in FP3 gave him a 10-place grid penalty.
Esteban Ocon is so far ahead of Bearman in head-to-head rankings, but Bearman’s P8 lap put him well ahead of the Frenchman in P15.
Speaking to the media after qualifying, Bearman expressed his delight with his performance at Silverstone, despite the disappointing penalty.
Bearman’s incredible qualifying performance
Home soil proved a welcome spark for Bearman and Haas, with the British driver making his way into Q3. Bearman put in a lap of 1:25.471, outqualifying teammate Esteban Ocon by just shy of five tenths.
On his pace, Bearman stated: “Yeah, I’m happy, I’m happy. It was a good qualifying. The car has been feeling really good today.”
Bearman will be hoping that he can carry over Haas’ strong one-lap pace into the British GP tomorrow, as he looks to carve through the field for a strong result.
Haas upgrades a bright spark for pace
Haas are currently in a tight mid-pack battle in the Constructor’s Standings, with everyone bar the top four teams within reason of finishing fifth. With Bearman struggling for race results as of late, he is delighted to have an upgraded car.
“I was a bit disadvantaged going on to the new package only after FP2 because we had to validate it. Luckily, it was performing as expected. I had a bit of adjustment to do to this new car, which behaves quite differently.
“But, you know, today we’ve done an excellent job.”
The disappointment of the 10-place grid penalty
Bearman condeded that it “hurts” to be starting much further back than his Q3 performance deserved. However, he was upbeat about the pace in qualifying.
“The car is clearly easily in Q3. I managed to get in Q3 with a used and a new tyre, which only the top teams can do usually. So, you know, on that side, we’ve had a mega qualifying. So I hope we can come back for the race.”
Bearman was penalised after a crash in the pitlane under red flag conditions in FP3. The Briton struggled to slow his car before the pit limiter line, and careened into the barriers. Bearman and the car were both okay, but the stewards judged the situation to be worthy of a 10-place grid penalty and four penalty points. Bearman currently sits on eight out of the 12 permitted penalty points.
