Oliver Bearman appreciates the gesture from Esteban Ocon in team orders situation in F1 Saudi Arabian GP, as the duo felt the strategy was right to try and score points.
Considering that the duo were on a different run plan in F1 Saudi Arabian GP, it was an easier choice for Haas to push the team orders in the latter part of the grand prix. Bearman stopped later to Ocon, which meant the Brit was able to catch the back of the Frenchman on his second stint.
Haas wasted no time to swap positions which Ocon obliged to. “Yeah, yeah, it’s normal,” said Bearman to media. “We were in different races fighting for different things. I appreciate the gesture.” Despite that call, the Brit wasn’t in contention for points as nothing major happened after Lap 1.
He struggled on his first stint but felt well on the second to add to the learning. “It’s a bit disappointing honestly, just missing the pace to fight for anything meaningful,” said Bearman. “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. We knew that the hard tyre could do 60 to 70 laps. It’s not like you’re limited on tyre life for that compound. I feel like we overshot the balance a bit on the medium, and therefore, I was struggling pretty early on with the rear tyres.
“I was also quite close to Lawson for that entire stint, which was not good for my tyre temperature, so we tried to just get into clean air and do something. 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,” summed up Bearman, as Ocon concurred on the strategy part with his teammate.
He reflected on the three races where Haas managed to extract as many points apart from Saudi Arabia. “I think we put ourselves in the best position in the beginning and if anything would have happened we would have consolidated the place,” said Ocon. “That was the intention behind the strategy and I think it was the correct one.
“Now, obviously, coming away from that triple, I think there was some positive, but also we finished with a bit of a negative one on the last one. But overall, we scored a good amount of points as a team. Good in Suzuka for Ollie, good for me in Bahrain, a bit worse for both of us here. We need to obviously put the pieces of the puzzle together and come with the right one every single time because we faced different issues all the way through the triple and this is what hurts us a little bit.
“So, we need to come up with some info after that race. Hopefully, we will have. Hopefully, we can come strong in Miami. I think that has been true in other tracks. I need to see for here. Obviously, in Bahrain, I don’t think so. I think we finished where we were, which was a good thing. I think in the other ones, yeah, probably that was the case, I don’t know about Suzuka. We will obviously review everything, and hopefully come back with some good searches.”
