Photo: Prema
Prema’s Ollie Bearman was pleased to return to winning ways in Formula 2’s Red Bull Ring sprint race after a first half of the season full of struggles.
Coming into the weekend, Bearman had only scored points in three of the 10 races he had contested in the new Dallara F2 2024 car, and was yet to make the podium. He claimed pole in Jeddah, but then withdrew to make his Formula 1 debut with Ferrari as a substitute for the ill Carlos Sainz Jr.
“I’m happy to bring a good result to the team, and hopefully it lifts the spirits a bit,” Bearman told media including Formula Scout after the victory, his first since 2023’s Monza feature race.
“Because it’s really tough as a team, as mechanics and engineers to kind of work so hard. They put so many hours in away from the race track. I think that’s not really appreciated [externally]. And when so far this season we haven’t really had any results to show for it, to show for all the hours spent working. We finally have something to show for it. So hopefully it lifts the mood and we can take a lot of our experience from this race.”
The Briton’s F2 season contrasts with his F1 running, where everything has “been going really well”.
“It’s been kind of a tale of two halves. In F2, we know that we’re struggling a bit to fully understand this car and missing a bit of pace. We can’t deny that,” he stated.
“Today showed that we are making a step in the right direction and that if we get in a position to be in front and have clear air now we can have the pace and the car can be really strong. So I have a better feeling than I have had in previous rounds, which is a good thing to have.”
Despite comfortably leading from lap one to the chequered flag, Bearman had flashbacks of the struggles he has been facing this season throughout the race.
“I spent the whole race managing, saving and, of course, scared of issues that we’ve had so far this year. Because it’s been quite difficult in terms of races. That’s been where our weaknesses have kind of shown itself so far this year. So it was the main goal since lap one. It was what I was thinking about honestly during the race and at some stage when Pepe was closing in on me, I was thinking ‘let him pass and just focus on my own race’. Because my goal was just to focus on my own race and the pace that we can do.
“I wouldn’t say we had the same balance limitation in any specific track,” Bearman expanded on what he and Prema have been hampered by. “It’s not like we’ve had the same issue throughout the year. It’s always been a bit different. Usually on the low-energy tracks like Monaco, like here, we’ve tended to run a bit better.”