Only the top teams ahead of Haas
Excellent overall performance by Haas in the first Grand Prix of the season in Australiawith Oliver Bearman which best represented the work done by the US team with the 7th place final. The Briton, who started from the 12th spot on the starting grid, was not actually the protagonist of a positive start, but the team’s successful strategy allowed him to first return to the track in the points, and then overtake his compatriot debutant Lindblad, author of an applause-worthy first F1 race.
“It was a good race – commented the Englishman – it wasn’t the best first lap, but then we had a great pace and made some overtaking, so I’m really happy because we had a good performance today. It’s a special feeling to start with these new regulations like this, ed being ‘better than the rest’ is a great achievement for the team. We benefited from some retirements of other riders in front of us, but despite this we scored points and took them all. I’m proud of this team, finishing the race in P7 shows all their hard work.”
Close to the ‘double’
Bearman’s teammate is also close to the points: Esteban Ocon. Starting behind Bearman, the Frenchman recovered positions during the race, but was unable to get the better of Gasly’s Alpine, finishing in11th place. A GP which, in any case, highlighted the steps forward made by Haas: “It was a disappointing race, because we should have been in the points after the excellent start we hadgaining positions. After that, however, the pace wasn’t right anymore and we had problems with one notable posterior instability. It was frustrating, because I think the car could have done so much more. Even though we still have time to improve, we learned a lot this weekend, so we’ll see how it goes in the next race. I’m happy with the points the team scored here in Melbourne, because we did a lot of hard work during the break to prepare for the season.”
