Bearman is “saddened” to have his Super Formula Cameo interrupted several times by engine problems

Haas Formula 1 signing Oliver Bearman says he is “sad” that engine problems have deprived him of the chance to strive for a better result at the Suzuka test following the Super Formula season.

Bearman was the highlight of the third and final day of the three-day Test, reserved for rookie players, on Friday as he Toyota squad drove for KCMG,

The British driver set the third-fastest time in the morning session behind Nakajima Racing’s Igor Fraga and fellow KCMG driver Seita Nonaka, and was He was set for further progress, until his car suffered turbo failure in the afternoon session.,

This prevented him from using two of the three sets of fresh Yokohama tires he was assigned, as he had only used one set at the end of the morning session.

Reflecting on his performance, as he finished 16th overall over the three days, 0.557 seconds slower than the Toyota Junior Nonaka, Bearman said he was satisfied with his first attempt on the new tyres, but with an even better time. Sorry to have lost the opportunity to be taken.

Bearman reflected, “It was my first new tire run, so to be honest I was pretty happy.” “With these tires you only get one lap, so you just have to go for it.

“I was hoping to run more on new tires this afternoon, but because of the problem we had, we couldn’t do that.”

Asked how fast he could have been without the turbo problem, Bearman replied: “Definitely a huge amount faster – I don’t know how much.

“But I’m a little sad that I couldn’t race on the new tires again because I was building my confidence and it would have been a good thing to do.”

Despite that setback, Bearman said he felt the experience gained from testing would serve him well ahead of next April’s Japanese Grand Prix at the same track.

“I was very happy to drive on this track,” he said.

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“There are some differences in real life that you can’t catch on the simulator: bumps, wind, circuit roughness cause tires to heat up much faster, so it’s important to control that.

“I learned a lot from the long run I did this afternoon and the short run I did this morning.

“I have the least experience at Suzuka compared to the other drivers on the F1 grid, so this was a way of getting myself closer to them.

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

Bearman said he got his first taste of Super Formula with the Dallara SF23, comparing it to the new Formula 2 machinery for 2024, having won three sprint races this year.

Oliver Bearman, PREMA Racing

Photo by: James Sutton/Motorsport Images

“The driving style is very close to F1, where you can really push, attack and really go for it,” he said.

“The car lets you dance with it; It is very light and agile. It reminds me a lot of F1.

“Today I learned some things that I can take to F1, so it was very useful and I really enjoyed it today.”