A frustrated Oliver Bearman stated after qualifying for the Hungarian GP that Haas shouldn’t really be fighting with Aston Martin. The young Brit was knocked out of the top 16 by Fernando Alonso. The Spaniard finally qualified for Q2 with his heavily upgraded AMR26. According to Bearman, this result underlines that Haas will have to step up its game to avoid falling behind in the championship.
Read more Ferrari admits guilt after Lewis Hamilton’s grid penalty: ‘Our mistake’, says Fred Vasseur
While Esteban Ocon was delighted with his fifteenth starting position, Bearman regretted an early exit in Q1. The Brit was beaten by his teammate for the first time since Monaco, with a difference of 0.223 seconds. Alonso narrowly relegated Bearman to seventeenth place by diving just 0.107 seconds under his time. Aston Martin pulled out all the stops to achieve this new milestone. The British racing team used three sets of new tires, compared to Bearman’s two sets.
“We only have three, so we didn’t really have much choice,” sighed the Haas driver afterwards. “It does mean we have a set left for the race, so hopefully that puts us in a good starting position. But yes, it’s been a tough weekend so far,” he admitted. “Of course, Aston Martin was helped by using three sets of tires, but we shouldn’t really be fighting them at all.”
Read more Hungarian GP Preview: Exciting battle for victory, question marks around Verstappen
Step up their game
Aston Martin has consistently been at the back of the Formula 1 grid in recent Grands Prix, with the exception of Alonso’s points finish in Monaco. In Hungary, however, the team introduced a long-awaited upgrade package with numerous aerodynamic improvements. Moreover, on the winding Hungaroring, there is less emphasis on the Honda engine, which will only receive an update in Zandvoort. “It’s really painful,” Bearman nevertheless declared. “It shows that we are really fighting and struggling at the moment. At the same time, this is probably the circuit where the engine is least decisive, because the straights are so short. I don’t think this picture will remain the same throughout the season. But it is a clear signal that we need to step up our game.”
The fact that the Haas driver had to hand over the car to Ryo Hirakawa during the first free practice session also didn’t help his confidence. “Friday was totally unproductive for us,” he complained. “I didn’t participate in FP1, and in FP2, I was looking forward to getting back into the swing of things after Spa-Francorchamps. But I really felt like we had fallen back to the situation of two or three races ago, where the balance in the corners was very poor. I simply couldn’t find confidence in the car and therefore couldn’t push; it constantly broke away when entering corners. Especially on this circuit, your entire lap falls apart as soon as the car’s balance isn’t right.”
Read more Verstappen moves up to P4 due to penalties for Hamilton and Antonelli in Hungary
Read everything about the Hungarian GP here
