Ollie Bearman "lucky to be standing here" after Isack Hadjar Chinese GP near-miss
Haas driver Ollie Bearman believes he avoided a massive accident with Isack Hadjar in the Chinese Grand Prix
Ollie Bearman admits he was lucky to avoid a “monster shunt” with Isack Hadjar after he spun in front of him on lap one of Formula 1's Chinese Grand Prix.
The Haas driver and Red Bull's Isack Hadjar were battling at Shanghai's Turn 12 when the latter spun while running on Ollie Bearman's inside.
Bearman instinctively jinked left and managed to miss the Frenchman, running wide onto the run-off area as he did so, and losing several places in the process.
"I was so lucky, to be honest, to avoid that,” he said when asked by Crash.net about the incident. “I mean, I am lucky to be standing here. Honestly, that would have been a monster shunt.
“It was a really tricky corner that whole race, with the wind of today. I was just all over the place, the car balance, I think [the same] for everyone. Well, I hope for everyone, because it was tough for me, and I saw with Isack.
“We were pushing hard, and to be honest, it felt like the corner was done. And then next thing I know, he's sideways, and then I'm trying to avoid him. In one-tenth of a second, I went left.
“I had to go off-track to avoid, and I ended up back in last again. So both of my races this year, Australia and China, I've ended up pretty much last after lap one. But we're getting there. And the race was fantastic after that.”
Bearman took advantage of a pit stop under the safety car for Lance Stroll's stoppage to eventually leapfrog cars that had stayed out and move up to fifth at the chequered flag, having fended off the Alpine of Pierre Gasly.
“I made some overtakes on track,” he said. “I was quicker than the RBs, and I was quicker than the Audi at that stage. That was strong, and the car felt great. Then we picked up a great safety car timing.
“I think with the bad luck on lap one, that was kind of cancelled out by the great timing of the safety car, pretty much I was back where I started after all of that, I was right behind Pierre, which is where I was halfway through lap one before all of the mess.
“So that was great. And then the pace was really strong. After that, I was able to clear the traffic. And honestly, I was doing like 40 quali laps, which was good fun.”
Having finished seventh in Australia and eighth in the Shanghai sprint, Bearman currently lies fifth in the world championship on 17 points behind only the Mercedes and Ferrari drivers.
In this article
Adam Cooper attended his first F1 race at Brands Hatch as a 10-year-old fan in 1976. He became a freelance journalist for Autosport magazine in 1985 while still at university, initially covering everything from club racing to the FIA World Sportscar Championship.
