While reflecting on his rookie 2025 Formula 1 season with Haas, British driver Oliver Bearman admitted that he made himself "look silly" by not accounting for the fact that the American outfit's car was sometimes on a "knife-edge".
The 20-year-old driver celebrated some great highs during his first season in the championship, such as a fourth-place finish at the Mexico Grand Prix, but also endured some mentally tough races.
"There were a few tough races," Bearman explained during an appearance on the High Performance podcast.
"I went on a run of like four or five 11th places in a row. And that was also really challenging because even in 11th, you're so close, but at some point, I was just saying like, 'what do I need to do? I'm missing out on the points by one position for the last month or month and a half in a row.'
"I think Miami, I finished in the points and got a penalty that took me out, and you're like, 'OK it's just not going how you want at this stage'. Those kinds of races prior to the summer break were really challenging.
"We were at a time when the car was on a bit of a knife-edge, really hard to get in the perfect set-up window, and I just wasn't accounting for that enough.
"I was trying to push as if the car was exactly where I wanted it, and it would work three times out of five. But on those other two occasions, I would make a mistake, run wide, run off track and make myself look silly, basically."
Despite the challenges, Bearman outperformed his experienced team-mate Esteban Ocon by finishing 13th in the drivers' standings, compared to the Frenchman's 15th-place finish.
