Ollie Bearman overjoyed by P5 finish in China after ‘deer in the headlights’ Lap 1 scare with Isack Hadjar

Ollie Bearman was all smiles after an impressive drive to fifth position in Sunday’s Chinese Grand Prix, having bounced back from a scary moment with Isack Hadjar on the opening lap.

After scoring a point in the Sprint on Saturday, Bearman reached Q3 and qualified 10th for the main encounter at the Shanghai International Circuit – the Haas driver eager to add a few more points to his tally.

Those hopes were almost dashed on the opening lap when Bearman had to avoid Hadjar’s spinning Red Bull at the exit of Turn 13, which he did by darting onto the run-off area.

While he initially lost a few places, the Briton managed to make his way back through the field with some smart overtakes – and later benefitted from the timing of a Safety Car – to come home in P5.

Asked about his quick reactions on Lap 1 when he arrived in the media pen, Bearman said: “Yeah! That was very unfortunate, I must say.

“Isack was on the soft [tyre] and managed to get up my inside at Turn 13, and then lost the car right in front of me. I was kind of [like a] deer in the headlights – I had no idea what to do.

“I kind of had the car sliding in front of me, I didn’t know if he was going to release the brake. In that moment I really had a split second, you know, even less, to react. I went left, I probably should have gone right, but you’re in survival mode there trying not to crash the car, and we didn’t crash the car, which was great.

“I went back very far, managed to overtake some cars again. Luckily the Safety Car timing was good, so I think with the bad luck on Lap 1, and the good luck of the Safety Car timing, we equalised.

“After that I just had a good race. I managed to overtake [several cars] and the car was really quick, so smiley face!”

With Bearman finishing seventh in Australia, eighth in the China Sprint and fifth in the Chinese Grand Prix, he added of his start to the season: “We couldn’t have asked for more, and I just want to keep pushing like this now.”