Oliver Bearman speaks out as F1 stewards slap him with 10-place penalty at British GP

Oliver Bearman confessed to a rookie blunder that dashed Silverstone's hopes of four British drivers starting in the top 10 for Sunday's Grand Prix. The youthful Haas driver secured an eighth-place qualifying spot but will start from much further back due to a hefty 10-place grid penalty.

The stewards penalised Bearman for speeding during a red-flagged final practice session, causing a crash at the pit entry and severely damaging his vehicle. The data revealed he hit a whopping 161mph even as the session was halted, leading the Brit to concede that he could only blame himself. Bearman admitted: "It was a silly error and one that shouldn't happen at this level. It was just a misjudgement from my side."

"To be in Q3 on merit is a good feeling. We actually had a very strong qualifying and the car was feeling great, the best it has ever felt. For me, then of course I'm really disappointed in myself because I've let the team down today.

"I'm angry at myself, very sad. I'm glad we could at least show today that we have a quick car in qualifying trim, which hasn't been the case recently."

Bearman, who made waves early in the season with three top-10 finishes in the first four races, has seen a dip with Haas and personally hasn't tallied points since mid-April.

With two 11th positions in his most recent efforts, he's eager to halt his point-scoring drought, especially at his inaugural home race in F1.

The Essex-raised Ferrari academy driver is not letting his 18th place on the grid dampen his spirits. He stated: "If we're P8 in qualifying then that means we've got a very quick race car, because normally our qualifying car is not as good as our race car, so hopefully that stays."

Bearman now sits on a precarious eight penalty points, with the threat of a race ban looming should he hit 12. When questioned if he was surprised to receive four points, Bearman admitted: "Yes, but let's move on."

Despite the setback, Bearman achieved his career-best qualifying position and remains hopeful for Sunday's race. He said: "We actually had a very, very strong qualifying and the car was feeling great, the best it's ever felt for me,".

London-born Thai racer Alex Albon, starting 13th, expressed frustration with his Williams team for squandering their chances. In a heated comment, he said: "We didn't do the right things at the right time. We should not be here, we should be in Q3 quite comfortably."