03/11/2024
NEWS STORY
MoneyGram Haas F1 Team finished with Oliver Bearman 12th, while Nico Hulkenberg was disqualified from the São Paulo Grand Prix, Round 21 of the 2024 FIA Formula 1 World Championship, held Sunday at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace.
Bearman took the start from 15th on Pirelli Cinturato Green intermediate tires, having moved up two grid spots due to penalties for Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz. The Brit progressed to P13 on the opening lap but spun through turn seven on lap four, dropping to P17, though swiftly re-joined and gradually made his way forward prior to pitting on lap 28 for intermediates. The race was suspended on lap 32 due to an accident for Franco Colapinto, and Bearman took the restart from 15th, and was chasing Sainz when he spun at turn seven. He was able to continue and close the gap to the pack after a safety car period for Sainz's accident and moved up to 12th at the restart. Bearman preserved the position through to the checkered flag on lap 69.
Hulkenberg launched from 18th, gaining one spot due to Sainz's penalty, and also started on intermediate tires. He moved up to P15 on the opening lap of the race, and picked his way through the lower end of the midfield to climb into the top 10. The German came in on lap 25 for another set of intermediate tires but spun on lap 27 at turn 1, though was able to re-join the action. However, he received outside assistance from the marshals in doing so, and was consequently issued the black flag on lap 32, bringing his race to a premature conclusion.
Qualifying took place earlier on Sunday morning, having been postponed from Saturday afternoon due to the weather conditions. Bearman and Hulkenberg both took to the track on Blue extreme wet tires but were unable to progress from Q1 - Bearman posting a 1:31.229s to take P17 in his first Formula 1 session in wet conditions, with Hulkenberg logging a 1:31.632s to finish P19.
Nico Hulkenberg: "Unfortunately, I needed help from the marshals as I was beached, which was really unfortunate after a low-speed spin. It was my mistake but it was quite unlucky to be beached like that, normally you spin but can continue after, so a small mistake with a huge consequence there. It's been a very tough and disappointing weekend."
Oliver Bearman: "It was a tough race and there were too many mistakes from my side. On one hand, we finished P12 - close to the points - despite the mistakes I made, but on the other hand there were too many mistakes and lost time. It was a really tough day, and I learned a lot for sure. I'll take the positives that I've learned the track, something I wasn't going to be doing before next year, and of course racing in these conditions, it's rare, so that was really valuable."
Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal: "It's been a very tough day for the team, we didn't perform today, and others scored heavily. Operationally, we didn't maximize everything here so that's something we need to take home and review. A slight positive was that Ollie's pace on inters - and part of the race with Nico - was actually better than what we thought we could achieve, so that's a small positive that we can improve the performance of the intermediates. We have to look ahead for the last three races; we have decent pace in the dry, so we need to reset and refocus. We need to get the best out of the car and everyone for the next three."
Check out our Sunday gallery from Sao Paulo here.