Ollie Bearman admitted he was “s******g himself” when he pulled off a daring lunge on Max Verstappen at the Mexican Grand Prix.
The 20-year-old British driver claimed a superb career-best fourth for Haas from ninth on the grid in Mexico City.
He made up three places from the start and then capitalised on Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen’s battle on lap seven, completing a bold move on the Dutchman to move up to fourth.
Hamilton was given a 10-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage at turn four, promoting Bearman to third.
He was denied a maiden F1 podium as he pitted twice while Verstappen pulled off a one-stop strategy.
But Bearman held off Oscar Piastri – who lost his title lead to team-mate Lando Norris – in the closing stages to clinch fourth.
He was delighted with his result and reflected on going wheel-to-wheel with the four-time world champion and coming out on top.
“Hamilton and Max had a bit of a coming together and I benefitted from that,” Bearman said.
“Honestly, I was s******g myself going side-by-side with Max, but it’s really cool to go wheel-to-wheel with these people that I’ve been watching since I started watching F1.
“And I had him in my mirrors for a long time, so it was probably the most pressure I’ve ever had in a race scenario.”
Bearman’s 12 points for fourth more than doubled his tally for the whole season, taking him to 20 in his first full F1 campaign.
He admitted that battling with the top cars on the grid and securing his best-ever result will do wonders for his confidence.
“I had Max behind me, then I had Kimi (Antonelli), then I had George (Russell) and I had Oscar (Piastri) and they all couldn’t attack me. So we were doing something right today,” Bearman added.
“I didn’t expect to be fighting against these top cars this year or at this stage of my career. But it gives me a great feeling for the future and hopefully that can be the normal thing instead of a one-off.”
The London-born driver does not intend to go wild to celebrate his achievement.
“I’m on the first flight back home and I’ll be straight to bed, honestly,” Bearman added.
