Formula 2: qualifying complicates Bearman’s weekend

Any ambitions Oliver Bearman harboured of having a strong weekend at the Hungaroring evaporated during qualifying, when he set the 14^th fastest time. It was tough to take and meant the English Scuderia Ferrari Driver Academy student would start the two races from the seventh row of the grid. Bearman did move up the order in both races, but not as high as the points places, finishing tenth in the Sprint and 15^th in the Feature.

Qualifying. On his first run in qualifying, Oliver set the 12^th fastest time on Soft tyres, then after a red flag interruption following a crash, Bearman went back on track looking to improve. He went quicker, but not by much and he was 14^th. “It was a very complicated session,” he explained. “In terms of feeling from the car, my first run wasn’t bad, but on my second set I made a small mistake and after that the tyres had overheated. I was not happy with that result.”

Sprint Race. After a very hot Friday, temperatures dropped significantly for the first race. Bearman got away well and went from 14^th to ninth and then he had strong pace for the first third of the race. Then, the race got difficult for those, including Bearman who had started on the Soft tyres as strong degradation led to a gradual drop in performance. Oliver gritted his teeth and fought back to tenth after a close fought duel over the final two laps. “It was a difficult race, the first laps were good, but in the second half I struggled a lot to keep my pace up. In terms of the feeling from the car I was reasonably pleased with it.”

Feature Race. Once again Ollie got a great start, going from 14^th to eighth. Along with the other eleven drivers who had started on the Soft tyre, he made the most of the Safety Car coming out on lap 7 to pit for Hard tyres, after which he rejoined in 14^th place, but sixth of those who had already pitted. Complicating matters was another appearance from the Safety Car on lap 22 which allowed those who had started on Hard tyres to pit, losing only half the normal time. It meant that Bearman dropped to 15^th which is where he finished. “It was a difficult race,” commented Ollie. “The car proved to be very quick but I was stuck behind other cars for almost the entire time. It meant I wasn’t able to make the most of the Hard tyres and on top of that, the Safety Car didn’t work out in my favour. I think we were a bit unlucky today, but that can happen in Formula 2.”