Ollie Bearman rues ‘what could have been’ after F1 Monaco DNF
Originally published by Motorsportweek
Reflecting on a Monaco Grand Prix that ended on Lap 30 for Ollie Bearman, he admitted there was a lot to be desired across the Formula 1 weekend.
Bearman’s Monaco weekend was difficult from the start. The Haas driver lost control of his car in Casino Square. The rear coming out from underneath him and hitting the barrier at Massenet.
In Qualifying, the Briton struggled to put a clean lap together and lined up on the grid on Sunday in 19th. His teammate is just two places ahead.
However, Bearman believed that things could have gone another way. He saw Haas’ pace on par with Racing Bulls’, who managed to qualify much better and end the GP with a double-points finish.
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“It’s been a challenging weekend in general”, Bearman told F1TV, “Particularly given that actually the car was quite fast in a way.
“I think we showed decent pace, in qualifying we really had the chance and if I close the lap that I was on, I think we were in for a shout. Q2 easily and fighting for around the Audis, maybe, but more realistically, the V-Cars and look at them now, they’re in the top 10, both of them.”
A race ended early
He admitted it was a lot of ‘what could have been’. His hopes of recovering were slim around Monaco. Where overtaking is usually done in the pits or not at all.
They became even slimmer when Bearman made contact on the first lap of the GP, forcing him to come into the pits. Just 29 Laps later, he came into the pits again to retire the car.
“I had some damage on the car, because I got some damage on lap 1, I had a car come across in front of me in lap 1, and after that I had to pay for it on lap 1.” He said.
Despite his problems over the weekend, Bearman is setting his sights on Barcelona. Looking for better results than his place as the last finisher in 2025.
“It’s a weekend of what could have been, and I’m a bit disappointed. But I’m excited to turn the page and go next weekend in Barcelona.”
The Briton moves to 11th in the standings after the Monaco GP weekend, with 18 points. Even though he’s had a difficult weekend. His performance so far in the season has been promising for future races.
READ MORE: Has F1 quite literally outgrown Monaco?