An emotional Oliver Bearman was left elated after what he described as a “perfect” race in Mexico. The British driver finished a career best fourth to put himself within touching distance of the top ten in the driver’s championship.
A hopeful horizon heading into Mexico
Having introduced an upgraded floor in Austin, Haas arrived in Mexico optimistic and hopeful of a strong points haul.
Prior to the race, the team found themselves engrossed in a battle with Sauber and Aston Martin for seventh in the Constructors championship. Yet, the American-based outfit found themselves on the backfoot, sitting at the rear of the trio in ninth.
Throughout the practice sessions both cars seemed strong and this was replicated in qualifying where Bearman appeared in Q3 for the fourth time this season.
Lining up tenth the Haas driver made an incredible start, jumping up the order to sixth.
On lap 6 he capitalised on the battle between Verstappen and Hamilton to jump up to third.
“To go side by side with Max is a very special feeling,” said Bearman. “It’s awesome and I’m really proud of what we did today.”
“When you race against someone like Max he doesn’t give you an inch so you need to fight the same way back,” Bearman told Sky Sports.
Maintaining the pace
When the Haas driver barged past Verstappen many expected the Red Bull to breeze back past and retake third. That didn’t happen though, and instead Bearman maintained a two second gap to the Dutchman behind.
As the pitstops arrived, the British driver was jumped by a quicker Verstappen but the Haas remained in fourth.
It wasn’t just Verstappen Bearman was faced with. The Brit had to hold off a charging Piastri at the end of the race.
Some may argue he was saved by the late Virtual Safety Car, but the Haas driver’s ability to hold his nerve while behind hunted down by the driver leading the world championship at the start of the weekend is no mean feet.
Bearman held on to provide Haas’ best result of the season with fourth, giving the team a valuable haul of points.
“We finished there on merit,” Bearman said in an interview with Formula 1. “Even if we didn’t have the pace to qualify there we had the race pace to stay there. I think we did an excellent job.”
“It was crazy and I’m so happy to take so many good points back for the team. We did a fantastic job strategically and the car felt great underneath me.”
Jumping up the championship
Bearman’s result has propelled him up the drivers championship. It’s also put Haas back into contention with Sauber and Aston Martin.
Having started the weekend behind Yuki Tsunoda in the championship standings, Bearman finds himself comfortably clear of the Japanese driver.
In fact, Bearman sits four points clear of Tsunoda who sits 17th overall while Bearman lies in 13th.
Now equal on points with Lance Stroll and five points behind his teammate Alonso, the Haas driver is within touching distance of the championship top ten.
Just nine points separates Bearman in 13th and Nico Hulkenberg in ninth with four rounds remaining.
It’s not only the drivers championship that Bearman’s points haul is crucial for.
In the teams standings, Haas now jump ahead of Sauber and are just seven points behind Aston Martin in seventh and ten behind Racing Bulls in sixth.
“He hasn’t put a foot wrong,” said team principle Ayo Komatsu. “It’s just amazing.”
“We have always been there this season, fighting and never had a big result,” said Komatsu to Formula 1. “It was just a huge team effort, and finally, we managed to get a big result. Then to get both drivers in the points, it’s just amazing.”
Feature Image courtesy of Formula 1