Martin Brundle praises overlooked midfield star for ‘quality’ display at the United States Grand Prix
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The United States Grand Prix saw Max Verstappen firmly cement his place in the 2025 title hunt, but Martin Brundle has picked out another driver for his strong performance.
Verstappen dominated the United States Grand Prix, leading every lap from pole position to take his third win in four races. The four-time champion is now 40 points behind Oscar Piastri with five races to go.
RANKDRIVERTEAMPOINTS1Max VerstappenRed Bull252Lando NorrisMcLaren183Charles LeclercFerrari154Lewis HamiltonFerrari125Oscar PiastriMcLaren106George RussellMercedes87Yuki TsunodaRed Bull68Nico HulkenbergSauber49Oliver BearmanHaas210Fernando AlonsoAston Martin12025 United States Grand Prix result
Lando Norris says Verstappen is doing a ‘very good job’ as he has cut down Piastri’s lead by 64 points in the last four events. The McLaren driver finished second at COTA, with Charles Leclerc locking out the podium for Ferrari.
Norris was criticised by F1 fans for his overtaking after he struggled to get past Leclerc throughout the race. Their teammates came home fourth and fifth, with Hamilton again missing out on a podium, while Piastri had a disappointing race after suffering with tyre management issues.
George Russell was sixth for Mercedes, while Yuki Tsunoda had a decent weekend with Red Bull to finish P7. Nico Hulkenberg, Oliver Bearman and Fernando Alonso locked out the points places at the United States GP.
Photo by Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images
Martin Brundle praises Oliver Bearman for his ‘quality’ drive at the United States Grand Prix
In what was a mostly uneventful race, a few drivers stood out on the track with impressive performances. One of them was Bearman, who showed strong pace in his Haas to score points for the second race in a row.
The 20-year-old managed to reach Q3 and put his VF-25 in eighth on the grid. Bearman kept up the pace and looked to challenge Tsunoda for P7 at one stage, but he spun at turn 15 after the Red Bull driver shut the door on him.
Hulkenberg passed Bearman for eighth, with the Haas driver coming home to finish ninth for the second consecutive race. Brundle was impressed by his performance as he wrote on his blog for Sky Sports F1.
He said: “Ollie Bearman scored points in both races for Haas after a quality showing despite some adventures along the way.
“And Franco Colapinto passing his Alpine team-mate Pierre Gasly against team orders in a desperate duel for what was at that time 17th and 18th rather sums up how intensely competitive F1 is now.
READ MORE: Who is 2025 Haas driver Oliver Bearman? Everything to know
Photo by Bryn Lennon – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images
Oliver Bearman was overlooked for his performance at COTA
Bearman produced a strong weekend for Haas in Austin with a Q3 appearance and points on Sunday. However, his performance went under the radar as many were more focused on his incident with Tsunoda.
The Brit was forced to take avoiding action on the grass after Tsunoda moved under braking into turn 15 on lap 34. Bearman was lucky not to collide with the Red Bull driver as he spun back onto the track.
Bearman was furious with Tsunoda after the race, labelling his actions as ‘very dangerous’. It seemed that all the attention from the Haas driver was on that incident, rather than his driving.
CategoryOliver BearmanEsteban Ocon2025 points2028Grand Prix results109Grand Prix qualifying109Grand Prix wins00Grand Prix poles00Grand Prix podiums00Best finish8th5thRetirements21Retirements (classified finish)00Disqualifications00Fastest laps00Grand Prix points finishes45Sprint results22Sprint Qualifying22Sprint wins00Sprint poles00Sprint podiums00The 2025 F1 teammate head-to-head battle of Oliver Bearman and Esteban Ocon
The 20-year-old has enjoyed a decent rookie season with Haas. While he has only scored points six times in 2025, he has put his VF-25 into positions that it would not naturally be in, such as P8 in China and P6 in Zandvoort.
Jamie Chadwick thinks Bearman could emulate Russell’s career with a move to Ferrari one day. He is being considered by the Maranello outfit for the future, which would mark a similar progression to his fellow compatriot with his move from Williams to Mercedes.
