‘Own goal’ Haas
Bad luck: this can be briefly summed up in one word for the Belgian Grand Prix for the Haas team, which nevertheless seemed ready to lay the foundations for a return to the points zone since the Monaco GP. Thanks to the penalties that several drivers had to serve, Bearman and Ocon started from 14th and 16th on the grid, but already during the first lap the two came into contact, puncturing both. Restarting after the Safety Car came out, both the British and the Frenchman recovered positions, but with a comeback insufficient to get close to the points zone.
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Start to forget
Bearman, who in the days before the Spa race was indicated as one of the possible Red Bull drivers in case of Verstappen’s ‘farewell’, crossed the finish line 14th, commenting on his performance as follows: “Unfortunately, before the accident I was stuck in fourth gear and lost a lot of ground. As for the accident itself, I punctured a tire, which is really a shame. I don’t know exactly what happened, but it’s disappointing, to be honest, because the car was quite fast. We were much closer to the Audis, which is a step forward for this weekend. I think there are many positive aspects to consider, especially the fact that the car behaves well and is much more fun to drive. The balance is much more precise, which means you can push to the limit and make fewer mistakes. I think I had a very clean weekend in terms of performance and the race pace was also consistent, which is positive. So, we will regroup for the next race.”
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Only 17th the teammate Ocon, with the team continuing to lose valuable points to Racing Bulls and Alpine, now tied in fifth at +40 points: “It was an unfortunate accident for both Ollie and me on the first lap, there wasn’t much we could do. We were three side by side and I think Ollie had a problem, so everyone tried to avoid him. I went inside Nico (Hulkenberg), let him pass and, once Nico was clear, I was still inside and we touched. It was a shame, but it didn’t compromise our race. We struggled with the pace and, on my part, we continued to have speed problems on the straights, lacking rear grip, and we were not fast at all. We have to do better in Budapest and I hope we can have a car similar to the one we had at Silverstone, or at the start of the year in Japan.”
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