Guenther Steiner unimpressed by ‘lucky’ F1 driver who was ‘trying to find the track’ in Brazil

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The conditions at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix last weekend were extremely treacherous. It was one of the wettest F1 races in the sport’s recent history.

The opening practice session, Sprint qualifying and the race had been all dry. But a storm arrived before Grand Prix qualifying, forcing organisers to postpone until Sunday morning.

Lewis Hamilton protested to Stefano Domenicali in a light-hearted manner, telling him ‘you should have sent us out’. He feels the drivers need improved wet tyres so they can cope with more standing water.

In the rescheduled qualifying, five drivers crashed. The situation was particularly critical for Williams and Aston Martin, who saw both drivers suffer accidents, while Carlos Sainz also put his Ferrari in the wall.

Alex Albon wasn’t even able to start the race, and in the end only 15 drivers were classified. It was the first time this happened since the Canadian GP in June, another event that featured rain.

Lance Stroll beached his car in the gravel on the formation lap, while Colapinto and Sainz crashed again. Nico Hulkenberg spun off at turn one and then received a black flag after the marshals gave him illegal assistance.

Guenther Steiner says Oliver Bearman looked lost at Sao Paulo Grand Prix

This was only a third F1 appearance for Oliver Bearman, who partnered Hulkenberg at Haas. Team principal Ayao Komatsu had to call on him after regular driver Kevin Magnussen contracted an illness.

Bearman, who will race for the team full-time next year alongside Esteban Ocon, was excellent on Friday. He outpaced Hulkenberg to reach SQ3, having been third-fastest in FP1.

He’s stunned observers with how quickly he’s adapted to F1, particularly given that two of his three outings have been last-minute. But while Bearman watched Max Verstappen’s old Red Bull onboard to help him prepare, it was perhaps predictable that he struggled in the rain.

Having started 15th, he finished 12th, having received a 10-second penalty for clumsily tagging former F2 rival Colapinto. Speaking on the Red Flags podcast, Guenther Steiner said his inexperience was obvious.

Steiner said: “He’s still going around there trying to find the track it looks like! He was just lucky he never crashed the car. I think it all put in perspective what a rookie is.”

Oliver Bearman’s alarming radio messages during the Brazilian Grand Prix

There were times in the race where Bearman seemed genuinely afraid. This is understandable given that visibility appeared almost minimal in the laps before the mid-race red flag.

He told his team he was ‘trying not to die’ because he couldn’t even ‘see in front’. Likewise, George Russell demanded a red flag to prevent a major shunt.

Bearman will learn a great deal from the weekend, the first time he’s driven an F1 car in the wet. He can also take more confidence from how he fared on Friday.

At the time, he was disappointed that he wasn’t able to qualify higher after a mistake on his final lap. But Damon Hill warned Bearman not to be ‘too hard’ on himself and accept that there would be tough moments ahead – prescient remarks indeed.