Oliver Bearman admits "wrong mindset" was behind difficult start to F1 rookie season

Oliver Bearman has conceded that he entered his Formula 1 rookie season with the “wrong mindset,” leading to a bruising season-opening Australian Grand Prix that was compromised by costly on-track errors.

The British driver, who signed with Haas after impressing on debut with Ferrari at the 2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, endured a challenging opening weekend in 2025. 

Bearman suffered a crash during the first practice session at Albert Park, and he spun out and became beached in the gravel during the third practice session. He went on to start the race from the pitlane and finished in 14th.

Reflecting on the launch of his full-time career during an episode ofF1 Off The Grid, Bearman admitted he failed to manage his expectations.

“That weekend in general was a very tough one,” the Haas driver explained. “I probably entered the weekend with the wrong mindset. On top of that, we had a car which was not the most compliant. It was a really bad start.

Oliver Bearman, Haas

“Last year, I made a lot of mistakes. There are a lot of mistakes that, in hindsight, I definitely could and should have avoided. It taught me very quickly how I need to approach an F1 weekend. But there are also some mistakes that I think taught me a lot. It’s OK to do once, not to do it twice. So don’t do that.”

While Bearman started his rookie season off on a rocky note, he went on to match the best race result for the American outfit with a fourth-place finish in Mexico. “That was a crazy weekend,” Bearman said of the achievement. “We were simply flying. We were really, really quick and managing to hold off all of those very quick cars and very quick drivers.”

Bearman ultimately finished his rookie season 13th in the drivers’ championship with 41 points. In comparison, his experienced team-mate Esteban Ocon finished 15th with 38 points.

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