Outside Line: Ollie Bearman sums up new Formula 1, "I felt like I was a bit in a video game"

From the sidelines, it seems the powerbrokers of our sport are in panic mode as the +$10-million new-era Formula 1 Power Units are proving to be a very bad concept, and trying to convince all that what we witnessed is definitely not "anti-racing" as Max Verstappen let everyone know after he sampled the new cars for the first time.

Great looking cars, but sadly carrying a contraption of an engine that most fans don't like and don't understand, except Stefano Domenicali and the gang, who have ramped up the efforts to convince everyone that what we see is not only okay, it's good. Bollocks!

In Melbourne after the race, it was evident that the likes of Juan Pablo Montoya (did he get bought?) and the F1 TV team (some reluctantly?) were trying to talk up the Power Units. Formula 1 even boasting on X about the number of overtakes on the day. As if our sport is Mario Kart!

The problem with this sudden collective 'enthusiasm' for the new PUs all seems all scripted; several different people interviewed post-race all sang the same hymn sheet, singing the praises of the new era power units, almost using the same words and phrases as if by instruction. Did they get an email from above? It seems so, it's glaringly obvious because I have never witnessed anything like it in my years of Formula 1 from the owners.

Blatant pushing of a self-serving narrative that is not only hard to believe, but contrary to the exploding social media ridiculing the new formula on Sunday, after the race. No independent outlet is hailing Melbourne as a great race. And from what I saw, you might as well hand the 2026 Formula 1 crowns to George Russell and Mercedes.

In fact, the only three blokes most happy with this engine is George Russell, Kimi Antonelli and Toto Wolff. But they wouldn't be so happy if they were struggling with the PUs like their partner teams (including 2025 F1 World Champions McLaren) who were nowhere this weekend, as they grapple with the complexities of these ten-million-dollar beasts.

For me, watching these cars, the power surges, the slowing down in unnatural places, then extreme speed, it reminded me of Scalextrics (slot cars) when the little cars got an extra boost of electricity and would whip around at lightning speed, slowing when the electric current weakened, and picked up again. Deja vu from 50 years ago!

I have already bemoaned the complexity of driving these 2026 F1 cars even on my home sim rig. Thus, I was intrigued to listen to what Haas driver Ollie Bearman has to say after his splendid drive to P7, highlighting in italics what he has to say about driving these cars.

And this is not to throw the young Briton under the bus with the authorities, but simply reading between the lines to ascertain if these cars are indeed anti-racing.

Q: Ollie, talk us through the race. What happened from your perspective?

Ollie Bearman: It was a great race. The start was very challenging and I dropped back to 23rd or 24th, but then I managed to come back. In those early laps I actually got all the way back up to 12th using the boost button. I felt like I was a bit in a video game.

After that everything settled down and everyone found their own rhythm. The VSC came out and we decided to stay out because I was the second car and had a bit of clean air after that. Luckily there was a second VSC and we managed to benefit from that. We basically overcut all of the other cars who had boxed on the first one, and then it was a clean run to the line.

I just had to fight with Arvid, who did an excellent job defending. He had, I think, extra battery power hidden somewhere in his car. But it was very fun nonetheless.

Q: Let’s talk about that battle with Arvid Lindblad. We can show it on the monitor now. What was going through your mind in that moment?

Ollie Bearman: Don’t crash, basically. You have no grip on the straights anymore because of the straight line mode, so you can’t really do any erratic moves. You have to be very precise.

Obviously, I used all of my battery in Turn 1, so then he overtook me in Turn 3 like I was standing still. Then into Turn 6, I was lifting off, just praying that I could recharge the battery for Turn 9. We were side by side again in Turn 9 and Turn 10.

I didn’t realise that the lead changed so many times, but I can see why that happened now.

Q: There seemed to be a lot of energy deployment and swapping positions. You had the battery power on the straight but then had to work hard to keep the position when you were low on energy. How was the racing generally?

Ollie Bearman: On this track, the overtaking delta is around eight or nine tenths. Last year DRS was worth about six-tenths. This year the overtake mode is worth around 1.1 seconds, so it’s roughly three times more difficult to overtake on a track like this where you don’t have much energy reserve.

With the pace delta I had, especially at the start, I probably would have overtaken him a bit more easily last year. With these new regulations, you basically get one shot at it. If you don’t pull it off, you spend another three laps charging the battery again.

Overall, I was happy to get through, but then you spend a couple of laps looking in your mirrors hoping you can hold on. You make the move, you use all your energy, and then you just have to defend for a while.

Q: It looked exciting from the outside. Do you feel like you understood how to maximise it by the end of the race, or do you still feel there is a lot to review?

Ollie Bearman: This track is a tough one because there are almost no braking zones, so there are not many places to recharge the battery. Bahrain actually felt quite similar to last year at times when I was driving the car and the boost button was working, because you always had a bit of margin in the battery pack.

But I think this is the worst case scenario, and that means as a team we learn the most because it’s the biggest stress test. When we get to China I think it’s going to be a bit more interesting.

Q: You finished the race in P7, with the next car ahead being a McLaren. Was that the maximum result today?

Ollie Bearman: Pretty much. That’s the best we could have done today in my opinion. Obviously, we benefited from some retirements of the cars in front, but that’s quite standard for the first race of a new era.

At that point, Ollie needed to be shut up, and clearly instructed in her earpiece, the presenter signed off: "Ollie, I'm being told that we've got to let you go. So off you go." Probably Stefano on the phone!

So there you have it.
Is Verstappen wrong when he labelled the new Formula 1 era as antiracing Formula E cars?
Is this Formula 1?
I know my answer, you tell me.