Ollie Bearman is “disappointed” with 2025 F1 Saudi Arabian GP result

After outqualifying his more experienced teammate, Esteban Ocon, MoneyGram Haas F1 Team’s Oliver “Ollie” Bearman is “a bit disappointed” with the 2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

Bearman started the race from P15. During the Safety Car, resulting from Yuki Tsunoda’s Turn 1 crash with Pierre Gasly, the Rookie stayed out on medium tyres. His teammate pitted for hard tyres, which brings him an advantage at the end of the race.

Despite having the disadvantage with his strategy and coming out behind Ocon after his pit stop, Bearman finishes the 2025 Saudi Arabian GP in P13, 20 seconds ahead of his veteran teammate.

Despite a few positives, Bearman highlights pace as main problem in Jeddah

The VF-25 had seemed to lack the pace to allow Haas to properly compete against their rivals. Speaking to the media after the race, Bearman admitted that the missing pace was a key issue. It ultimately left him disappointed with the outcome of the race. Even though Jeddah will always be special for Bearman, after his F1 debut with Ferrari last year during the F1 Saudi Arabian GP.

“It’s a bit disappointing honestly, just missing the pace to fight for anything meaningful today.”

“To come back one year on is a special feeling, [I’ve] always had decent performances here. This track will always be special to me.”

Regardless of the disappointment after the race, Bearman brought up some positives. In his eyes, they were “quite strong”, even though the Jeddah Corniche Circuit is known for its high speed corners.

“But I think that there are a few positives. We were quite strong on this track, and with the amount of high-speed corners here, I was pretty happy with that”

Bearman battles balance issues but gains confidence on hard tyres

Struggling early on with the rear tires, Bearman claims that the dirty air from Liam Lawson in front of him did not help during the Saudi Arabian GP. Before his pit stop, Bearman faced problems with his tires and finding the right balance. Bearman compliments the team’s management of the hard tires, which helped him getting in front of Ocon at the end.

“I feel like we overshot the balance on the medium, and therefore, I was struggling pretty early on with the rear tires. I was also quite close to Lawson for that entire stint, which [was] not good for my tire temperature, so we tried to just get into clean air and do something.”

“We knew that the hard tire could do 60 to 70 laps. It’s not like you’re limited on tire life for that compound.”

The Rookie claims he gained confidence while the race proceeds. With the worst part being the start, as his VF-25 was “very unrelenting”.

“But actually, as the race went on, I was getting more and more confident. But the worst part for me was the start. The car was very unrelenting.”

At the end of the 2025 F1 Saudi Arabian GP Ocon and Bearman fought for different things

Bearman ensures, after being asked about Ocon letting him by, that this was a normal and a gesture he appreciates. He explained that they fought for different things while being in two different races.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, it’s normal, you know, we were in different races fighting for different things, I appreciate the gesture.”

Overall happy, still “a lot to analyse” ahead of the 2025 F1 Miami GP

While wanting more from the F1 Saudi Arabian GP, Bearman states that he was overall happy with his and the Haas’ performance.

“Yeah, Happy. Happy but wanting more, of course. But that’s how it is sometimes.”

With the 2025 F1 Miami Grand Prix less than two weeks away, Bearman states that Haas has “a lot to analyse” to maximize their performance.

“We have a lot to analyse, especially about this weekend heading to Miami.”