Bearman Breaks Through to SQ3 While Hülkenberg Struggles

Oliver Bearman seizes his chance in Brazil, reaching SQ3 as Hülkenberg faces challenges on the resurfaced, bumpy circuit.

Oliver Bearman certainly hadn’t anticipated such an eventful Friday, as Kevin Magnussen fell ill between media day and the first practice sessions. Haas F1 called on its reserve driver, who successfully made it through to SQ3.

“The car felt really good all day, honestly,” Bearman stated. “From the first lap I did in free practice, I had a really positive feeling. I was thrilled to make it to SQ3 and finally reach the third stage of a qualifying session.”

“But I made a small mistake in sector one that cost me a lot of time; the rest of the lap was very, very good, so I’m a bit disappointed,” he continued, before recounting the early morning call from Ayao Komatsu informing him he’d be replacing Magnussen.

“Ayao woke me up at 6:30 this morning with a call, but when I saw his name, I wasn’t too upset – if it had been my mum or someone unaware of the time difference, I’d have been a bit more annoyed!”

Bearman doesn’t yet know if he’ll complete the full weekend, as he might return the car to Magnussen between the Sprint and qualifying sessions: “I’m doing my best for Kevin because I know he’s feeling unwell and has had a lot of success on this track, even securing a pole here. But it’s always fantastic to get into an F1 car. It’s always a pleasure.”

Nico Hülkenberg finished 12th in Sprint Qualifying and admitted he’s not entirely comfortable with his car: “The resurfaced track isn’t great, to be honest; it’s very bumpy. But it’s the same for everyone.”

“This session was difficult, just a continuation from last week. I’m struggling to find rhythm and harmony in the car. I was happy with my lap but need to understand what’s going on because I couldn’t find the rhythm.”

The German remains hopeful for the remainder of the weekend: “We’ll see – there’s the Sprint, and then we reset a bit with the end of Parc Fermé. We’ll take things one step at a time and see how it goes.”