Oliver Bearman shares his views on Yuki Tsunoda’s performance at the U.S. Grand Prix.

AUSTIN, Texas

The U.S. Grand Prix saw most of the excitement around the lead drivers, but it was the tussle for seventh place between Hiroki Tsunoda and Oliver Bearman that caught the eye—and left Haas drivers feeling pretty irked in the aftermath.

As the two racers battled it out, Bearman attempted an inside pass on Tsunoda during Turn 15. Tsunoda, however, closed the door, forcing Bearman to make a quick maneuver onto the gravel to avoid an accident.

Currently, Bearman has accumulated 10 penalty points on his FIA Superlicense, which puts him just two points shy of a race ban.

Bearman quickly relayed his frustrations to his team, stating over the radio that Tsunoda “moved while braking.” In the media chat after the race, he claimed that Tsunoda’s action went against the “spirit” of racing.

“What he did was really dangerous and frankly against the regulations,” Bearman remarked during an interview.

Bearman elaborated, expressing disappointment over the incident. “This isn’t how we race at this level. We shouldn’t teach young fans that this is acceptable behavior. You can’t just react to other cars like that,” he added.

He lamented, “It’s frustrating because even though we avoided a crash, we slipped down two positions. I honestly believe I had the pace to finish higher, potentially even seventh.”

“He was all over the place for a few laps, but when I finally made my move, he reacted and didn’t leave me enough room,” Bearman noted. “It’s just not fair. If I hadn’t swerved quickly, we could have been looking at a much worse crash.”

Later, Bearman offered some thoughts on Tsunoda’s aggressive driving style. “He seemed a bit desperate out there. He made risky moves in both the sprint and main races,” he reflected. “Maybe I should have been more wary given how he was driving.”

He continued, “It looks like he’s having issues with other drivers too; he was even battling with Charles Leclerc. Why defend against him when it’s not necessary?”

Interestingly, the stewards chose not to pursue an investigation and deemed Tsunoda’s actions appropriate.

Tsunoda himself mentioned, “I don’t think I did anything that bad. We had a good fight up until that moment, so it’s unfortunate how it ended.”

Bearman managed to secure ninth place, earning two points after a notably frustrating weekend where a penalty had previously cost him a position in the sprint race.

He kept a positive outlook, saying, “While it’s disappointing, it’s nice to have scored points for two weeks in a row. It shows our potential, and honestly, I think seventh was well within reach today.”