Haas driver Oliver Bearman astounded 1997 Formula 1 champion Jacques Villeneuve in qualifying for the 2025 Japanese Grand Prix en route to achieving P10 on the grid.
The 19-year-old completely shattered his best qualifying result of the 2025 F1 season so far at Suzuka this Saturday. Bearman had not qualified higher than the P17 the Haas rookie set in Shanghai over the opening two rounds, having also failed to set a lap time in Melbourne.
But Bearman led Haas’ Japanese GP hopes in qualifying, with teammate Esteban Ocon only able to seal P18 as the 28-year-old bowed out in Q1. Bearman eclipsed the Frenchman’s lap time by 0.468 seconds to advance, and continued to slash his times throughout the session.
Haas’ Oliver Bearman stuns Jacques Villeneuve after reaching Q3 for the first time at the Japanese GP
Villeneuve was especially impressed to see Bearman progress to Q3 at the Japanese GP as Pierre Gasly, Carlos Sainz, Fernando Alonso, Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda on his debut for Red Bull bowed out in Q2. The Briton did not scrape through by the skin of his teeth, either.
Bearman reached the top-10 shootout on merit by posting the eighth-fastest lap time in Q2, ahead of Isack Hadjar and Alex Albon. He even held a 0.111 seconds buffer to Gasly in 11th to reach Q3 for the first time as an F1 driver and set Bearman’s career-best qualifying result.
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The Havering native was staring down the barrel of a Q2 exit until his final push lap when he found 0.436s to rise from P15 to P8. Bearman reaching Q3 for the first time in his career left Villeneuve stunned given Haas’ car, too, with Ocon’s best qualifying result yet P11 in China.
“With a Haas, that is beyond impressive,” Villeneuve stated on Sky Sports F1 (05/04, 07:40).
His impressive qualifying performance even came after Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu suggested Bearman could face his toughest weekend in F1 yet in Japan. Additionally, their old team principal Guenther Steiner tipped Haas to be the worst team at the Japanese GP.
Oliver Bearman achieves his Formula 1 career-best qualifying result at Suzuka
Bearman ultimately could not match his Q2 pace in Q3 to finish qualifying for the Japanese GP in 10th place for his and Haas’ best starting position of the 2025 season so far. After the Briton posted a 1:27.711 lap of Suzuka in Q2 to stun Villeneuve, he posted a 1:27.867 in Q3.
It still marked his career-best qualifying result, though, after Bearman twice qualified in P11 through his three cameo appearances in 2024. He set the 11th-fastest time in qualifying for the 2024 Saudi Arabian and Azerbaijan Grands Prix on Bearman’s Ferrari and Haas debuts.
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