Bearman and Gasly reflect on their US GP collision after penalty and floor damage

By Vancouver Television Sports Desk

Ollie Bearman and Pierre Gasly have reflected on the collision between them during the United States Grand Prix at Circuit of The Americas, an incident that left Bearman with extensive damage, a 10-second penalty and ultimately retirement, while Gasly reported floor damage that affected his competitiveness late in the race.

According to Bearman, the move came early in Sunday’s race when the pair were close to the fringes of the top 10 and a Virtual Safety Car ended. Bearman said he had already gained two places on the opening lap and then closed up to Gasly as the race restarted.

Bearman described lunging to the inside of Gasly through the right of Turn 13, saying the contact appeared to be minor at first. He moved ahead immediately after the interaction, but he said he had sustained “a huge amount of damage” to his own car, and that he believes it also damaged Gasly’s car.

“I went up his inside, he saw me because he left space but for me it didn't really feel like enough. It was a bit of space but only half a car and by the time I was committed, I wasn't disappearing,” Bearman said. He added that the contact resulted in substantial damage and that the penalty and deterioration “ruined” his race.

Bearman also argued that, given the wider competitive context for Haas, taking decisive opportunities is necessary. He said Haas were struggling to match the performance of midfield cars such as Alpine and Racing Bulls when fighting for small points opportunities, and he framed the attempt as part of that need to make something happen on track.

“To be honest, I don't regret going for the move because at this stage if we don't do something special and get a bit lucky, be a aggressive and go for it, then we're not going to score points because we're not fast enough to do that on merit,” Bearman said.

Gasly said the contact was “a small touch” but had a disproportionately negative effect because it damaged the floor. He noted that after the incident, the team had to deal with a “quite big damage on the floor,” yet he was still able to hold position and finish P10.

“I’m pleased because after the contact with Ollie, we had quite a big damage on the floor,” Gasly said. “It was a small touch honestly and I didn't expect the floor to be that damaged following it. But considering the pace after that and the fact we managed to hold onto P10, it's positive.”

Looking forward to what it might have enabled, Gasly said the damage likely eliminated any chance to fight Liam Lawson’s Racing Bulls for P9, even though he was able to secure the point-scoring finish. He also judged the pass itself as more ambitious than perfectly clean.

“I think [the overtake] was a little optimistic, not crazy, but a little optimistic,” Gasly added. “Unfortunately there was this touch which cost us and cost probably 5-10 seconds of race time following it. It was not ideal, but at the same time, he tried it. It just wasn't the cleanest move.”