– Oliver Bearman describes his crash in Monaco FT3 as the strangest crash of his young career. The Haas driver lost his VF-26 during practice on the way to the Massenet corner and had to abandon the session. Nevertheless, his team managed to repair the damaged car for qualifying.
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“I just picked up a bit of dirt and lost the car,” explains the 21-year-old. “That was the strangest crash I’ve ever had. It was completely contrary to how the car usually behaved and throughout the entire weekend.”
“Suddenly I was facing the wrong way,” Bearman recounts. “That was very strange. In hindsight, I saw that I had picked up some dirt. I was on the [right lane] to avoid the [Mercedes] in traffic. That’s just how it is in Monaco.”
For Bearman, qualifying didn’t necessarily go better. Ultimately, his session was already over after Q1. However, the Haas driver emphasizes that the yellow and later red flag caused by Gabriel Bortoleto, among other things, thwarted his plans.
“The lap I was on [at that point] would undoubtedly have been enough for the top 10 in that qualifying segment,” he estimates. “That would have easily put us into Q2. I really believe we had what it takes for Q3 today, and of course, it counts in qualifying in the end. That’s why I’m really depressed to be standing here [in the media pen while Q2 is running] now.”
“After the red flag, we were stuck in a traffic jam in the pit lane for two and a half minutes. I had to push [on the outlap] with my new tires. It must be said that we hadn’t done that all weekend, so my tires were about 10 degrees too cold.”
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“I was sliding around everywhere throughout the entire lap. In the end, I didn’t have enough grip to put the lap together, but it’s a great shame.”
At that very moment, the TV broadcast shows Bearman’s sliding car. The Haas driver comments on the TV image visible in the media pen, at the suggestion of our sister portal Motorsport.com, with: “Simply no grip.”
Furthermore, Bearman emphasizes: “I gave 110 percent because I knew we needed an ‘all or nothing’ lap to get through, but there was simply no grip. Already in the tunnel, I was half a second behind my best time.”
“Because of the yellow flag [after the Bortoleto crash], I had to lift off the throttle. So later in the tunnel, when I was five tenths behind, I thought: ‘Okay, [either] I’ll gain another three tenths there – which would be enough – or I won’t make it through.’”
“So I really gave it my all, but it wasn’t enough.”
Bearman starts the race in Monaco from 19th position. In the 2026 season, this is the worst qualifying result for the Ferrari junior so far. His teammate Esteban Ocon starts the Grand Prix from 17th position.
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