Formula 1 rookie Oliver Bearman was shocked by the conditions he experienced during Sunday’s Brazilian Grand Prix.
The Haas reserve driver, who made his third grand prix start last weekend, was alarmed by the poor visibility he encountered as heavy rain fell during the race. He gave the team a series of increasingly urgent warnings over the conditions before the Safety Car was sent out due to the heavy rain on lap 30.“How are we allowed to race like this?” Bearman told race engineer Mark Slade at one point. “Someone is going to crash, big-time.”
“Come on, talk to the the FIA, this is really dangerous,” he added. “I’m trying not to die.”
Bearman wasn’t the only driver to predict a crash would occur. Franco Colapinto lost control of his car during the Safety Car period, which prompted the race to be red-flagged.
Like Bearman, Colapinto is a newcomer to F1: This was his sixth grand prix. Shortly before his crash, when he saw the state of the track as he rejoined following his pit stop on lap 30, he exclaimed “oh my God” on his radio.
But it wasn’t only the less experienced drivers who were surprised racing was allowed to continue as long as it did in such bad weather. Veterans of hundreds of grands prix voiced similar fears.
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
During the Safety Car period Carlos Sainz Jnr told his race engineer Riccardo Adami “We cannot race right now. I cannot keep it on-track in Safety Car, and the Safety Car is faster than me.” Later he added: “I cannot even go fast on the straights.”
The Brazilian Grand Prix weekend was heavily disrupted by wet weather. Saturday’s qualifying session was postponed until the following morning and the race start time was unusually brought forward, by an hour and a half, due to forecasts of severe rain during its originally scheduled time slot.
Bearman’s radio messages
Bearman was running 14th as the conditions started to worsen, then gained a place when Sainz ran onto the run-off at Subida do Lado:
| Lap 22/69 | |
| Bearman | If the rain gets heavy, I might struggle to restart on this tyre. |
| Slade | Copy that. |
| Bearman | Sainz went off. |
| Slade | Copy that. |
| Lap 23/69 | |
| Bearman | Tell Nico [Hulkenberg] it’s quite slippery at turn four. People keep going off. |
| Slade | Copy. |
Following a collision with Colapinto earlier in the race, Bearman had to serve a 10-second time penalty, which factored into the team’s decision whether to pit him:
| Lap 25/69 | |
| Bearman | Expecting heavy rain in about five minutes. Hamilton 0.6 behind. |
| Bearman | Yeah are we going to be… do inters, I think, if it’s going to rain? |
| Slade | Affirm. Close with Leclerc on exit, he’s just pitted for new inters. |
| Bearman | I can’t see in my mirrors, I need the gaps behind. |
| Slade | Copy. Car behind is Hamilton. |
| Bearman | I think we should box. |
| Lap 26/69 | |
| Slade | Ollie the problem is if we stop now we could damage your new inters before the heavy rain comes. That’s why we’re questioning what to do. We’ll get back to you shortly. |
| Bearman | I feel like heavy rain’s here. |
| Slade | Yep. Keep at it, mate, keep at it. You’re in good shape, just keep the car on the road. Hamilton one second behind, he’s in the same trouble as you are. So just keep it on the road. Yellow turn one, yellow – double yellow, turn one, double yell- clear, it’s clear. |
| Bearman | You just need to tell me the gaps. Like I said, I can’t see my mirrors. |
| Slade | Copy. Hamilton 0.8 behind. Hamilton still 0.8. |
| Bearman | Yeah, I mean, on every corner I’ve got… |
| Slade | Interrupting Yep sure. |
| Lap 27/69 | |
| Bearman | Getting really slippy. |
| Slade | Understood. |
| Bearman | It’s raining heavy, mate. |
| Slade | Yep, we understand. |
| Bearman | Why not do something? |
| Slade | We want other people to struggle. It’s because of the penalty, it’s because of your penalty, we need to do something different. |
| Slade | Doing a fantastic job. Hamilton 0.7 behind. |
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
When the Virtual Safety car was deployed in response to Hulkenberg’s spin, Haas took the opportunity to bring him in. He had a near-miss with Sainz after he rejoined the track:
| Lap 28/69 | |
| Slade | VSC, VSC, VSC. |
| Bearman | What are we doing? |
| Slade | Box, box, box. You have a 10-second penalty. It’ll be a long stop. Wait for instructions from the guys. Do not go before you’re given the signal to go. |
| Slade | Bearman pits Mode RS for the restart. The mechanics wait 10 seconds before touching his car. |
| Slade | Bearman leaves the pits behind Sainz, who he almost runs into at the braking zone for Descida de Lago So still respecting VSC. Mode slow. That’s Sainz just ahead of you. |
| Slade | VSC ending, VSC ending. Mode push, mode push. |
| Lap 29/69 | |
| Bearman | Okay it’s wet now, it’s fucking wet. |
| Slade | Affirm. |
| Bearman | I think it’s okay. |
| Slade | Okay. I believe you’re P14 at the moment. Just try and keep it on the road. Perez right behind you, 0.6 also fresh inters. Actually, Perez on full wets, Perez on full wets. |
As the rain continued to fall, Bearman became increasingly concerned about the conditions:
| Bearman | How are we allowed to race like this? Someone is going to crash, big-time. |
| Slade | Perez coming up fast behind you on his full wets. DC full… |
| Bearman | Mate I can’t even see my steering wheel. |
| Slade | You doing a great job Ollie, you’re doing a great job. |
| Bearman | Yeah but come on, talk to the FIA, this is really dangerous. I’m trying not to die. |
| Slade | Yeah. Yeah, understood. |
| Lap 30/69 | |
| Slade | Suggest EB3 to help stability. |
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
The race was finally neutralised, to Bearman’s relief. Like Sainz, Bearman found it hard to reach the pace set by the Safety Car:
| Slade | Safety Car, Safety Car. Safety Car, mode slow. Perez one second ahead of you. |
| Bearman | Thank God. |
| Slade | Next car four seconds behind. |
| Bearman | That was so bad. |
| Slade | You’ve got to race to Safety Car line one. Don’t overtake, don’t overtake, don’t overtake. |
| Bearman | No, no, no. |
| Slade | Stay on your delta, stay on your delta. Okay. Well done, mate. Well done. |
| Lap 31/69 | |
| Slade | Just make sure you respect the delta. |
| Bearman | I am nowhere near it. |
Miss nothing from RaceFans
Get a daily email with all our latest stories - and nothing else. No marketing, no ads. Sign up here:
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
2024 Brazilian Grand Prix
- “I didn’t really want to come back” – Hamilton explains cryptic Brazil radio message
- Ocon’s role in Gasly’s Q2 exit was almost another ‘flare-up’ at Alpine – Oakes
- Interlagos must improve “very bad” new track surface for 2025, say F1 drivers
- “That’s how we silence them”: Verstappen’s stunning Brazil win from start to finish
- Verstappen now has as many wins as F1’s first six world champions combined
Ideals (@ideals)
5th November 2024, 12:14
I mean, both Bearman and Colapinto just really tried their absolute best and you have to respect them for it. Bearman especially jumping into that car with only two races under his belt and only one in this car plus a few FP1’s, you honestly can’t expect them to work magic in these conditions. They did their best, what more could you ask for from them?
Riccard
5th November 2024, 12:32
A reminder as well that ALL the established F1 drivers are top-level racers who handle really tough conditions.
Even people like Stroll (who is not at as good as the rest) or Perez (who is not as good as he used to be) are still very very good drivers… even if they are not top 50 in the world like the rest of them and there are better options for their seats
Shn Jim
5th November 2024, 12:34
You can ask them to do their job
Dex
5th November 2024, 17:27
I expect the same things from them as from any other driver. They have thousands of hours in the sim, hundreds of hours driving F2/F3 machinery, and already a few F1 races behind them as well. Why would we ask for anything less from these two guys? It’s fair to say that they have both failed this time. We can’t reserve only praise for them, and praise they did get, quite a lot of it. This time they can’t.
Craig
5th November 2024, 22:20
None of that prepares you for driving an F1 car in those conditions.
Jungle
5th November 2024, 13:01
A bit too early for him…
Asd
5th November 2024, 13:11
“Bearman It’s raining heavy, mate.”
Yeah right, “heavy” but not as heavy as to require wet tyres. That’s heavy indeed. [/sarcasm] Whimp.
j b
5th November 2024, 23:41
he is no wimp, and the extreme tyre is useless
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
6th November 2024, 0:53
Indeed, last word is ideal in this situation.
Jere (@jerejj)
5th November 2024, 13:21
Pointless complaining by him as well.
The conditions were never too dangerous for racing, so again solely about pushing an agenda.
Euro Brun (@eurobrun)
5th November 2024, 13:28
Or legit being scared to death in only your 3rd GP? Or is this you being sarcastic again?
Jere (@jerejj)
5th November 2024, 14:11
@eurobrun IPBA
The race start time was brought forward specifically to avoid the worst rain, yet some drivers still complained & even asked for red-flagging.
MichaelN
5th November 2024, 14:21
Sargeant called it quits last year in Qatar when he felt he couldn’t continue. Bearman could have done the same. Even Lauda has done this. It’s nothing to be ashamed about.
I’m sure he was genuinely scared, but he passes the pits every 90 seconds. He should have just come in and either demanded better tyres or stopped.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
6th November 2024, 0:54
He was out of the points anyway, had nothing to lose by pitting full wets if he was afraid about crashing out.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
6th November 2024, 0:54
putting*
MarkWebber (@markwebber)
5th November 2024, 14:23
Senna in his fifth GP delivered one of the best drives of his career in much worse conditions
Tristan
5th November 2024, 21:04
And how much testing did they have back then? Oh… that’s right.
IPBA
5th November 2024, 14:09
No disrespect but are you speaking from experience? Unless you have been in an open wheel race car, specifically an F1 car at the speeds these guys do in the rain, you have no place to say what is safe and what is not. IMO there are far too many arm chair expert F1 fans.
notagrumpyfan
5th November 2024, 15:04
I guess it’s a language thing; OP often presents his opinion as if it were an established fact.
Jere (@jerejj)
5th November 2024, 16:48
notagrumpyfan Not quite
Dex
5th November 2024, 17:30
But who decides if it’s safe or not? F1 drivers, or people who never drove an F1 car?
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
5th November 2024, 16:11
Didn’t know Max Verstappen commented on here!
The conditions were extreme enough for many drivers, all across the field at that point, to ask for red flags… People leading, people behind, people struggling and people doing great…
Jere (@jerejj)
5th November 2024, 16:49
@fer-no65 Good thing race control didn’t fall for the red flag calls.
chimaera2003 (@chimaera2003)
5th November 2024, 19:12
I have done the Formula Silverstone track day in the wet and I will NEVER curse a driver for not wanting to race in very wet conditions. This is merely based on my 45 mins in similar conditions at MUCH lower speeds but it was enough to make me understand the challenge posed by lack of visibility.
The TV simply doesn’t show how bad the visibility is in the wet and genuinely not knowing when the guy in front will brake as you are guessing where they are in the spray is not for the faint of heart.
Euro Brun (@eurobrun)
5th November 2024, 13:31
This is the perfect damming indictment for why the full wet tyres are useless and should be binned off.
That would also save money from carting them around the globe for no reason!
MichaelN
5th November 2024, 14:18
Why? It was apparently still so dry that they were worried about degrading the pattern on new Intermediates.
The Full Wets are actually good wet weather tyres as seen a few years ago in Japan. The problem is that there is a big gap between them and the Intermediates, which have even fewer grooves than a Track Day tyre for road legal sportscars would have. They’re beefed up slicks more than anything.
The teams generally don’t want to use Full Wet tyres even when they should, even apparently when their own drivers are scared to drive, because the Intermediates will generally be faster – until the car spins out or the race is (inevitably) neutralized. That’s not a Pirelli or a race control issue, that’s a team issue.
notagrumpyfan
5th November 2024, 15:09
Also choosing the Full Wets mostly means that you have to stop twice when moving back to slicks (or accepting a significant time loss by being on the wrong tyre for an extended period of time).
Thus changing to Full Wets should benefit you enough to overcome 2 pit stops.
asz
5th November 2024, 17:09
It actually might. In the worst of conditions, the time advantage may be huge (10-15 seconds per lap) on full wets. The reduced risk of crashing out is a useful extra.
So the race at that point only needs a red flag-less 4 or 5 laps to justify changing to full wets, and then back. Of course, when everyone is lobbying for a red flag as if life or death depended on it, this is not likely to happen.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
6th November 2024, 0:57
Indeed, such a shame this aspect is no longer a thing because of the red flag lobbying.
MarkWebber (@markwebber)
5th November 2024, 14:06
If he’s afraid of crashing then he should consider a career change. Historically, drivers who start to feel fear are no longer able to perform at top level anymore
IPBA
5th November 2024, 14:12
Ah its you Mark Webber, how is life treating you after F1/Red Bull? You are well placed to pass judgement as you have raced it F1 right? Hang on a minute, why would Mark Webber be in a discussion on Racefans.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
6th November 2024, 0:58
I mean, it’s not forbidden or impossible for it to happen!
Roger Ayles (@roger-ayles)
5th November 2024, 14:44
The ‘fans’ who always criticise drivers for calling for SC’s & red flags clearly have no idea what driving in conditions with zero visibility and where you could spin while going in a straight line with warning is like.
Cars were starting to aquaplane on the straights when the rain intensified and if you watch some of the onboard cameras (especially the in helmet cameras) you can see just how horrendous visibility had.
In conditions like that you can have a car aquaplane on the straight & be in a situation where cars behind can’t see it to avoid it. That simply isn’t sensible to carry on in those conditions.
Roger Ayles (@roger-ayles)
5th November 2024, 14:44
Lando norris visor camera during the heavy rain showed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bpfpJrrJ2o
baasbas
5th November 2024, 15:36
@roger-ayles
I see the problem already. He’s looking at 720p only..
Sorry, had to..
Doh
6th November 2024, 0:32
Don’t care about aquaplaning or complaints if you’re still on inters. Go put wet tyres on. The fia need to tell teams that they won’t just neutralise a race if they’re mostly all still on inters.. in this the the safety was unnecessary both because most were still on inters (even those that pitted went on to intera lol), and secondly they should drive to the conditions. Simple. Ruined what could have been a much better race with that sc
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
6th November 2024, 1:02
Indeed, there should probably be a rule to force drivers on full wets when conditions go beyond the inter lap time.
Unfortunately, even if they say they won’t neutralise a race when they’re still on inters, what happens is that someone on inters crashes out, at that point someone could crash into said driver, which is considered unsafe and forces them to neutralise the race.
MacLeod (@macleod)
6th November 2024, 8:17
Yuki and Lawson use Wets and where 4-5 seconds faster then the first car there problem was a red flag just after they pitted losing position….
Broderick Harper (@banbrorace)
6th November 2024, 4:24
No. We just remember years ago when the drivers just got on with it and accepted bad weather in the same way they accepted hot weather.
CarWars (@maxv)
5th November 2024, 14:51
Bearman at some point needed a black flag or something, he kept going off.. dangerous and disruptive to the race.
AlexS
5th November 2024, 17:30
Colapinto crashed because he stupidly floored his car. He has already experience to know better.
Todestriebu (@todestriebu)
6th November 2024, 4:39
I think I have seen somewhere in Japanese F1 Twitter that Tsunoda and Lawson were at least 10s faster than everyone else in the very few lap(s?) in full wets. Shame that SC and red flag came out immediately. Lap times has dropped well below the inters/wets crossover and Haas should have tried that.
But yeah, if visibility is that bad, is it a visor issue or is it just that bad? Man, walking with 10m of visibility is bad enough, nevermind racing.
Sergey Martyn
6th November 2024, 15:34
Sissy rookie…