Qatar Grand Prix: Race Recap

Ocon started the race from 16th position on Pirelli P Zero Yellow medium tires. The Frenchman moved up to 15th on the opening lap before pitting on lap 8, behind the safety car caused by a collision between Pierre Gasly and Nico Hulkenberg. Ocon switched onto White hard tires - during which he served a time penalty for a false start, before pitting again on lap 9 for failing to serve the original time penalty correctly, taking on a set of mediums in the process. Ocon stopped for a final time on lap 33, due to Pirelli’s mandatory 25-lap stint regulation, and emerged 17th overall. Ocon moved up to 15th by the checkered flag.

Bearman took the start from 13th on the grid on the medium rubber and made up a position on the opening lap to run 12th, before the collision between Gasly and Hulkenberg elevated him into the top 10. The British rookie pitted under the safety car at the end of lap seven, taking on mediums, with the mandatory 25-lap stint rule locking in Bearman’s strategy. Bearman continued to run inside the top 10 before pitting again on lap 32, but unfortunately a problem with the rear-left cost him valuable race time, and he emerged at the rear of the field. Bearman was issued a penalty for an unsafe release, which he served on lap 41, before retiring from the race.

MoneyGram Haas F1 Team holds eighth place in the Constructors’ Championship on 73 points.

Up front Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen claimed victory, ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.

Ollie Bearman:

“It’s a shame, as we were on for a good result, getting lucky with the incident ahead of us. We had the pace to be there though, and we were fighting in the top 10. Now we’ve lost some points against competitors, which is a shame, but we have one more race to go to do our best and claw it all back. I’ve got to look at the positives, and although the car was tough to drive, we found ourselves in a point-scoring position. I’m looking forward to resetting and ending the season on a high.”

Esteban Ocon:

“I don’t really have words for the penalty, I don’t know where that’s come from. I’ve done over 100 starts and have always done the same procedure. It killed our whole race, and then we had to serve a double penalty, and then being on the wrong tire, that was the end of our race really. The next race will be an important one, last year the team had a lot of pace, so we’ll see what we get.”

Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal:

“It’s been an extremely tough day. It had good potential, the pace in the car was good, and both drivers were much happier with the car. It’s a shame with Esteban, there was the smallest of movements from his car on the start grid, which we need to understand more about. We made a couple of big errors on the pit stops, we’re not proud of it, but when doing 24 races and however many pit stops we do – we all make mistakes. What’s important is that we stick together and support each other. We have one more race, an important one, next weekend, and it’s a good thing as we’ll get back up from this one and put on our best performance from FP1 through to the race. We’re determined to finish the season on a high, that’s our focus.”