Something doesn’t add up about Bearman’s Q1 exit

When there was so much going on in qualifying in Imola, it feels a bit strange to be calling out a situation that saw a Haas and a Sauber potentially in the wrong positions at the end of Q1. But it has been infuriating me all afternoon.

The first reason I’ve found it so annoying is my own fault, but during a rare race weekend when I am not in the paddock, watching on television and hearing commentators discuss something where they miss a crucial detail (understandably I might add – there’s a lot going on) leaves me wishing I had a direct line to be able to point things out.

In the case of the Q1 incident, it was Oliver Bearman’s final lap that was ultimately deleted as race control deemed he had crossed the line after the red flag was thrown for Franco Colapinto’s crash. But the onboard footage and multiple replays being shown on the world feed proved that Bearman crossed the line and completed his lap comfortably before the light panels started flashing red.

By “comfortably” we’re talking more than a second, so not something you have to slow down on the replay to work out. And that lap had been good enough for the Haas driver to advance to Q2 at the expense of Gabriel Bortoleto. It took a while, but the situation was eventually noticed by broadcasts too.

Bearman was clearly confused to see his lap time deleted after the fact, sitting in his car at the team’s request while it tried to argue the point with the FIA. To race control’s credit in many ways, the restart to the session was delayed while it tried to ensure it had made the right decision, but after an extra 12 minutes of review it decided that Bearman had not completed the lap in time.

More Formula 1

McNish takes on Audi F1 racing director role

Turkish Grand Prix to return to F1 calendar in 2027

Brown says Horner F1 return would be a positive, more A-B teams not so much

Onboard footage can only tell us so much, so perhaps there was a red flag waving elsewhere on the track, but the response from Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu soon suggested that was not the explanation being given. And he was not happy.

“Obviously, this was a very disappointing qualifying,” Komatsu said. “From yesterday and this morning, we knew it was tight, but I thought at least with one car we had the chance to get close to, or be in Q3 – so to have both cars out in Q1 is very disappointing. Conditions like the wind changed for Q1 so it was difficult, but I felt Ollie reacted very well to that, and to do a lap time like 1m16.077s – that’s a very good lap.

“That lap time was deleted however as race control deems that the red flag came out before he crossed the line, and our view is different. We have various evidence to back it up, so we’re talking to the stewards about it, but nothing changes this qualifying result.

“We’d like to understand how they came to that conclusion and are sticking to it. Clearly, they were discussing and debating it as the start of Q2 was delayed. For us, there’s overwhelming evidence to say that his lap time should’ve stood; so that’s our position currently, but with transparency we’d like to talk to the stewards about it.”

The suggestion from a Haas source was that race control was looking at the wrong line on the track and paying attention to the line at the front of the grid, rather than the control line where the lap times are measured, much further back on the straight. It would certainly make more sense given the explanation that was then given by the governing body – again one that did not reference a waved flag anywhere else.

“In relation to the Oliver Bearman situation in Q1, the red flag was set at 16 minutes 32.17.6 seconds,” an FIA statement read. “Bearman crossed the line at 16m32.20.9s with the abort signal/red flag showing on the start gantry.

“Qualifying 2 was delayed to enable the stewards to consult the relevant timing experts and examine the underlining data to satisfy themselves that the timing system data was valid and it was therefore right to proceed.

“The overriding objective was to determine whether or not Bearman had completed the lap before or after the red flag and whether the lap should be disallowed, to ensure the right drivers progressed to Qualifying 2.”

Firstly, the red flag was not showing on the start gantry when Bearman crossed the line. That is easily proven by both onboard footage and wide shots of the pit straight.

But even ignoring that, if the timing data that the FIA is referring to is correct – and by all accounts it appears the stewards were extremely thorough trying to make sure it was – then it has a major safety issue.

If Bearman crossed the line 3.3 seconds after the red flag was set, and the display on his steering wheel and trackside light panels did not start flashing red until nearly two seconds later, then that’s a discrepancy of around five seconds between a flag being called and drivers being informed. Such a delay is just not acceptable when there could have been a serious incident and the red flag is required. But such a delay has also never been exposed before.

If it exists, then it needs rectifying. But if it doesn’t, then there is a breakdown somewhere in either the timing data or the FIA explanation.

Something, somewhere, isn’t adding up, and it’s not from Haas or Bearman’s side.