Gasly says clash with Bearman cost him a chance to fight for ninth

Pierre Gasly says contact with Oliver Bearman in Sunday's United States Grand Prix cost him a chance to challenge Liam Lawson for ninth; he estimated the loss at five to ten seconds. Gasly finished 10th, while Bearman received a 10-second penalty for the incident but said he did not regret attempting the pass.

Bearman had made up two places on the opening lap and closed on Gasly as a Virtual Safety Car ended. He lunged down the inside at Turn 13 and moved ahead, but suffered extensive damage; he later retired because of it. Gasly said his own car's floor was damaged too.

Bearman said Gasly had left only about half a car's space and that, once committed, he could not simply disappear. He viewed the clash as a racing incident. Gasly described the attempt as somewhat optimistic, though not out of line, and said the touch felt slight but damaged his floor more than he expected.

Bearman said the damage left him losing about a second a lap through reduced downforce. He argued Haas needed to take risks to score in the midfield: against teams such as Alpine and Racing Bulls, he said, the team lacked the pace to earn points on merit without something special and some luck.