Bearman 'sad' that engine problems prevented Super Formula appearance

Oliver Bearman, who has signed with Haas in Formula 1, says he’s “sad” that he didn’t have the prospect to attain a greater end in Suzuki Super Formula post-season testing as a result of engine problems.

Bearman was the highlight of the third and final day of three-day testing on Friday, reserved for novices, driving for Toyota's KCMG team.

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The British driver set the third-fastest time within the morning session, behind Nakajima Racing's Igor Fraga and fellow KCMG driver Seita Nonaka, and was poised to make further progress until his automotive suffered a turbo failure throughout the afternoon session.

This prevented him from using two of the three sets of fresh Yokohama tires allocated to him, as he only used one set at the tip of the morning session.

Reflecting on his results, which saw him finish sixteenth overall over the three days, 0.557s slower than Toyota junior Nonaka, Bearman said he was pleased together with his first attempt on the brand new tires but regretted missing the prospect to getting a fair higher time.

“It was my first run on the new tires, so honestly I was pretty happy,” Bearman said. “You'll only do one lap on these tires, so you only must go.

“I was looking forward to this afternoon when I could run on the new tires, but due to the problem we had, we couldn't do it.”

When asked how much faster he could go without the turbo problem, Bearman replied: “Lots faster of course – I don't know by how much.

Oliver Bearman, Kids com KCMG

Photo: Masahide Kamio

“But I'm a bit sad that I couldn't ride on the new tires again because I was building my confidence and it would have been nice to do that.”

Despite this setback, Bearman added that he feels that the experience gained during testing shall be useful in the long run ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix at the identical track in April.

“I was really happy to be on that track,” he said.

“In real life there are some differences that can not be captured in a simulator: bumps, wind, unevenness of the track cause the tires to overheat in a short time, so it is crucial to regulate this.

“I learned so much from the long runs we did this afternoon and the short runs we did this morning.

“I even have the least experience in Suzuka in comparison with other drivers in Formula 1, so this was a option to get a step closer to them.

“It's a very difficult and technical track, so every lap counts.”

Bearman said he was pleased together with his first taste of Super Formula's Dallara SF23, comparing it favorably to the new-for-2024 Formula 2 machine wherein he won three sprint races this 12 months.

Oliver Bearman, PREMA Racing

Photo: James Sutton / Motorsport Images

“The driving style is much closer to F1, where you can really push, attack and really give your all,” he said.

“The automotive enables you to dance with it; it is vitally light and agile. It jogs my memory a variety of F1.

“Today I learned a few things that I can transfer to F1, so it turned out to be very useful and I really enjoyed today.”