Oliver Bearman is ready to put some distance between himself and Formula 1 after a bruising three-week stretch that has tested both his patience and his fortunes.
The Haas rookie emerged from the Sao Paulo Grand Prix with another disappointing result, admitting that an exhausting triple header had left him desperate to head home, switch off and start afresh.
The British driver finished 17th at Interlagos, having arrived at the weekend hoping to put an end to a miserable run of results.
Instead, despite producing an excellent wet-weather qualifying lap to secure a place in the top 10, his Sunday unravelled through a combination of early contact and painfully slow pit stops.
A brief encounter with Fernando Alonso sent both drivers wide in the opening stages, although Bearman insisted the incident had cost him little.
“I had a bit of a moment at the start but nothing major, I lost a few places at the start but managed to gain back a few again, so was net zero,” he explained.
“After that I just had some very slow pit stops and I couldn’t fight with that.”
The pit-stop delays proved particularly costly, dropping him from 10th to 17th and effectively ending his hopes of scoring points on a chaotic afternoon when several rivals capitalised on the changing conditions.
Three weeks of opportunities going begging
Interlagos was merely the latest disappointment in a triple header that had offered Bearman precious little to celebrate.
His troubles began in Austin, where contact with Pierre Gasly during a battle for position resulted in a 10-second penalty and significant damage to his Haas. The damage ultimately forced him out of the race, leaving the young Briton convinced he had paid a disproportionately heavy price for the incident.
Mexico City brought another cruel interruption. Running in the points and feeling competitive, Bearman was struck from behind by Nico Hulkenberg at Turn 4, sending him spinning out of contention and into another premature retirement.
“I just got smashed off. I was turning into Turn 4, and the next thing I knew, I was looking at everyone else coming past me, facing the wrong way,” he recalled.
“It was a good race to be honest, I had great pace, and we were in the fight for points, and I was in the points when I was taken out. It happens, it just sucks.”
A much-needed break before the final push
Three races, three weekends of frustration and not a single points finish. With Haas managing just one point across the entire triple header, compared to five for Audi, the consequences are becoming increasingly uncomfortable.
Haas still occupies seventh in the Constructors' standings, but its advantage over Audi has dwindled to just three points with three rounds remaining. Bearman will therefore need to return refreshed, with the team facing a potentially decisive fight to protect its position.
For now, however, the 21-year-old has little appetite for further post-mortems. After watching several opportunities disappear through circumstances largely beyond his control, he made no attempt to disguise his exhaustion.
“I just want to go home and reset. It has been a horrible three weeks, we have missed two opportunities to score points, and we just need to move on and do better,” Bearman concluded.
It was an understandable admission from a driver who has repeatedly shown flashes of genuine promise but has had precious little to show for it lately.
A few days away from the paddock might be exactly what he needs before Haas asks him to help rescue its increasingly fragile championship position.
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