Surprising revelation made in Leclerc-Bearman comparison

Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu has admitted Charles Leclerc didn't leave the same impression on the squad as Oliver Bearman.

Prior to his race debut in the 2018 F1 season, Leclerc took part in several FP1 sessions with Haas during the 2016 campaign.

The Monegasque driver would go on to have practice outings at Sauber the following year before his full-time promotion to the team.

In a similar rise to F1, Bearman has also had a number of Haas FP1 outings while part of the Ferrari Driver Academy and will compete full-time for the American team next year.

However, Komatsu has revealed that Bearman has left a different impression on the team compared to now-Ferrari driver Leclerc.

“It was a very long time ago so I don't remember the details,” Komatsu told media including RacingNews365 of Leclerc's term with the squad. 

“But what I remember, the team was in a very different position as well.

“We are still a young team, but back then we were an even younger team. So the position of the team was different.

“The ability for us to be able to assess young drivers was different.

“But also the approach of Charles honestly, I don't remember totally, very well, but I don’t know - maybe he was too conservative.

“I really cannot remember, I don't want to say something wrong! But it is true that he didn't give us the same impression. Different times, different challenges, I guess.”

Komatsu untroubled by Bearman mistakes

Bearman is the first rookie to be confirmed on next year's F1 grid, with his Haas team-mate yet to be announced.

Previewing Bearman's maiden campaign, Komatsu asserted he is not worried about the mistakes the Briton will potentially make behind the wheel as he comes to grips with the sport.  

“I think you've got to look at the individual mistakes,” he said. “You can't just call a mistake as one word.

“Every situation is different, you've got to judge with context. It might be a right mistake to make, it might be the wrong mistake. 

“It really depends on context - where are you in the championship? Where are you on the grid? What phase of the race is it? Is this the place to take the risk? Is this the event to be conservative?

“But the thing is, what we've seen with Ollie, he understands the picture very well, he understands the context very well. 

“So my expectation is if he was going to make a mistake, he would make a mistake in the right way, if you like.”