Super-sub Bearman reveals how he found out about Brazilian GP replacement
F1 News
Oliver Bearman has revealed the details of a 6:30am wake-up call from Haas boss Ayao Komatsu. The British driver will return to the grid and complete the rest of the race weekend because Kevin Magnussen is sick.
The British driver stormed out of the blocks with an impressive performance in FP1. He then got himself into SQ3 and will start Saturday's sprint race from 10th place on the grid.
How did Bearman find out about the last minute replacement?
"I'm feeling good. The car has been feeling good all day. From the first lap I did, I had a good feeling. Happy to be in SQ3 and finally make it to the third stage of a qualifying session. I made a little mistake in sector one which cost me a lot of time. The rest of the lap was really good," Bearman reacted to the peformance.
It will be Bearman's third race weekend in the 2024 Formula 1 season. He came in as a late replacement for Carlos Sainz at Ferrari, and replaced Kevin Magnussen in Baku because the Danish driver was banned. This is how he found out this time. "Ayao [Komatsu] woke me up this morning at 6:30 with his call. When I saw his name, I wasn't so mad. If it was my mum or something, not realising the time was different, I would've been a bit more angry," Bearman joked on F1TV.
Bearman will get the Haas seat on a full-time basis in the 2025 season and will team up with Esteban Ocon. The Frenchman is currently driving for Alpine.