Oliver Bearman admits he is ‘angry and very sad’ as he reveals reason for bizarre pit-entry crash that resulted in 10-place grid penalty at Silverstone

A careless 160mph smash in practice all but ended Oliver Bearman’s chance of fighting for the points at the first home race of his career today.

The Brit produced a stellar display in his first qualifying session at Silverstone, making it through to the third and final running before posting the eighth-fastest time of the day in his Haas.

But Bearman, 20, will start Sunday’s race way down in 18th after being slapped with a 10-place grid penalty following a rookie error in third practice on Saturday morning.

A red flag had been shown after Kick Sauber’s Brazilian driver Gabriel Bortoleto spun out, hit the barriers and became beached in the gravel.

And as the rest of the field made their way back to their garages, a lapse in Bearman’s concentration ultimately cost him dearly. He was unnecessarily overzealous on his approach to the pitlane and lost control of his car at high speed. Bearman careered into the barriers, losing his front wing in the process.

More damaging, though, was the punishment handed down to him by the stewards, which included four penalty points on his licence. 

The Haas driver was penalised after he bizarrely crashed upon entering the pit

Bearman headed towards the pit lane but ended up spinning and lost front wing from his car

Even a strong performance later in qualifying failed to soften the blow for Bearman.

‘It’s not a relief. I’m still angry at myself and very sad,’ said the London-born driver, who has collected six points so far this season.

‘I didn’t account for the cold breaks and tyres. (A) silly error, one that shouldn’t happen at this level. Just a misjudgement from my side, really.

‘We actually had a very strong qualifying and the car was feeling great – the best it’s ever felt for me. Then, of course, I’m really disappointed in myself because I’ve let my team down today.’