Oliver Bearman puzzled by Q3 dip after strong Brazil GP qualifying start

Haas rookie Oliver Bearman says faster out-laps overheated the soft tyres and potentially cost him pace in Q3

Haas rookie Oliver Bearman discussed his lack of pace in Q3 in comparison to Q1 and Q2 during the Brazil Grand Prix qualifying session.

The British driver is set to start the race at Interlagos from eighth on the grid after initially looking as though he could secure a spot on the front two rows during Q1 and Q2.

"For me, the main difficulty was that I had a great feeling throughout Q1 and Q2, and it just wasn't quite there in Q3," he explained. "I saw a lot of people struggling, out of position on that soft tyre. It seemed to be a difficult tyre today.

"Maybe we were too hot with it in Q3 because I was doing slightly faster out-laps. Because honestly, the two laps I did in Q3, I was incredibly happy with and I crossed the line very happy, but I see two tenths slower on my delta compared to what I managed in Q2. So it was really strange."

He added: "To be where we are is a great result. I think as much as we had great performance at the start of quali, I'm still happy with P8. I think the important thing would be to understand why it worked so well in Q1 and Q2 and what we missed in Q3."

The 20-year-old considered that a lack of grip could have been an issue, which many of his rivals struggled with, including Max Verstappen.

"Could be. I mean, it could be too hot. I think that's the thing that is pointing out for me right now because I had a few occasions in Turn 1 where I didn't feel my tyres were quite ready.

Oliver Bearman, Haas F1 Team

Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Sutton Images via Getty Images

"So I was trying to do faster out-laps in Q3 were my hottest out-laps, I would say. So maybe that was working against me a little bit."

Bearman heads into the Brazil Grand Prix on the back of a fourth-place finish at the Mexico Grand Prix a couple of weeks ago.

"To have the performance we did today, the car was working so well in high speed. I had an incredible amount of confidence with the car, and even in low speed, it was working very well. So it's a great job.

"The car is feeling really good underneath me, and now I'm really looking forward to the race."