F1 News: Bearman’s holiday lap battle ends in karting heartbreak

(GMM) While Max Verstappen and Toto Wolff spent the mini-break after Silverstone yachting in Sardinia, Haas rookie Oliver Bearman (pictured) was on holiday in Sweden with his family and girlfriend – until a nearby karting track changed his plans.

“I also really love karting,” said the 20-year-old at Spa. “I hadn’t planned to go every day, but of course it’s not a bad thing.”

Once he discovered the circuit, Bearman couldn’t resist. “Of course I went there every day to try to break the lap record,” he laughed. “I did it on the last day! The track was really cool. It was a short lap of only 29 seconds, so you had to be incredibly precise.”

He came within three hundredths after 15 laps – and couldn’t walk away. “When you’re that close, you can’t stop until you win. I have photos of myself, the guy who came with me, and my girlfriend, who was emptying the kart of fuel to lighten it. Between runs, I cooled the engine with a leaf blower.”

“She arranged the tires,” Bearman smiled, referring to his girlfriend. “The engine got very hot – it was around 28 degrees – and the power drops when it overheats. It was a high-tech operation there!”

“We even changed the layout a bit, moved a few walls, and then we managed it. I thought – it’ll be easy! But it turned out not to be.”

Asked about the previous lap record holder, Bearman joked: “He should be good enough for F1. He’s twenty kilos lighter, that’s my only explanation. Apparently he set that lap in April or May, and in Sweden it’s minus twenty or so.

“That’s my excuse, anyway.”

But the story didn’t end there. The previous record holder, 23-year-old local Elton Zevenwacht, heard about Bearman’s triumph – and went back to the circuit to reclaim his crown.

Zevenwacht is now the lap record holder once again.