‘Back to the drawing board’ – Bearman explains unusual testing incident as Haas discover ‘weak point’ with new car

Ollie Bearman has offered a reaction to his and Haas’ dramatic moment during Friday’s pre-season testing action at the Bahrain International Circuit, with part of the VF-25’s bodywork working its way loose.

Bearman was at the wheel for the final time this week when a chunk of his engine cover fell off and landed on the track an hour-and-a-half into the morning session, with a crack also appearing along the side of the car.

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After the British rookie limped back to the pits, Haas managed to conduct swift repairs and send him back out on track, but he admitted afterwards that the incident was far from ideal for himself and the team.

“Certainly not the morning I was hoping for, or the team was hoping for,” he said, having ended on 59 laps and at the bottom of the times. “Of course, a pretty obvious issue on the car, which was unexpected, so back to the drawing board.

“We ran the car a bit differently to finish the morning, which lost us a little bit of performance, but still learning a lot. Every lap for me is really important.”

Pushed on how much the incident set Haas back, the 19-year-old added: “We’ve had a few issues with bodywork sealing and everything, so that’s been a bit of a weak point that we’ve uncovered so far.

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“That’s really what testing’s all about. We’ve understood that and we’ll be fine [for the first Grand Prix of the season in] Melbourne.”

With that in mind, Bearman was asked about his mindset, and for his early predictions about where Haas might slot into the pecking order, ahead of the curtain-raiser around the Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit in a fortnight’s time.

“I’m feeling good,” he commented. “It’s two weeks away, but it really feels like one, because I’m flying out next weekend. It’s a long trip to Australia, but I’m really, really excited to get there and get my season started.

“I’m feeling confident. The car was performing really well, particularly yesterday night. I was feeling really comfortable, and we tried a few things, so that was really nice.

“It’s tough to really say where we stand, we haven’t really done enough low-fuel running with all the issues I had. I’m missing a bit of that, and that’s definitely something I need to work in Melbourne to get up to speed.

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“I think the car’s performing pretty well, but I don’t want to jinx anything! Let’s just see how we arrive in Melbourne.”

Esteban Ocon took over from Bearman in the afternoon session, completing a healthy 102 laps with no major dramas to report en route to eighth overall.