Only the top teams ahead of Haas
Excellent overall performance by Haas in the first Grand Prix of the season in Australia, with Oliver Bearman who best represented the work done by the American team with a final 7° place. The Briton, who started from the 12ª spot on the starting grid, was not actually the protagonist of a positive start, but the clever strategy by the team allowed him first to return to the track in the points zone, and then to overtake his debutant compatriot Lindblad, author of a praiseworthy first race in F1.
Read more Gasly brings home a point: “Hard-earned, but we are satisfied”
“It was a good race – commented the Englishman – it wasn’t the best first lap, but then we had great pace and made some overtakes, so I’m really happy because we put in a good performance today. It’s a special feeling to start with these new regulations in this way, and being ‘the best of the rest’ is a great result for the team. We benefited from some retirements of other drivers ahead of us, but despite that we earned points and took them all. I’m proud of this team, finishing the race in P7 shows all their hard work.”
Read more Volvo ES90, how the first 800 Volt electric car is doing
Close to a ‘double’
Also close to the points zone was Bearman’s teammate: Esteban Ocon. Starting behind Bearman, the Frenchman recovered positions during the race, but was unable to get the better of Gasly’s Alpine, finishing in 11° place. A GP that, in any case, highlighted the steps forward made by Haas: “It was a disappointing race, because we should have been in the points after the great start we had, gaining positions. After that, however, the pace was no longer right and we had problems with significant rear instability. It was frustrating, because I think the car could have done much more. Although we still need time to improve, we learned a lot this weekend, so we’ll see how it goes in the next race. I’m happy for the points earned by the team here in Melbourne, because we did a lot of hard work during the break to prepare for the season.”
