Bearman's holiday karting battle concludes in disappointment.

      "He should be capable of F1."

      While Max Verstappen and Toto Wolff enjoyed a yacht trip in Sardinia during the mini-break after Silverstone, Haas rookie Oliver Bearman was vacationing in Sweden with his family and girlfriend—until a nearby karting track altered his plans. "I love karting," the 20-year-old stated at Spa. "I hadn't intended to go every day, but it's not a bad thing, of course."

      Once he found out about the circuit, Bearman couldn’t resist. "Naturally, I went there daily to attempt to beat the lap record," he chuckled. "I managed to do it on the final day! The track was really exciting. It had a short lap time of just 29 seconds, which required incredible precision."

      He came within three hundredths of a second after 15 laps and couldn't walk away. "When you're that close, you can't stop until you win. I have pictures of myself, my companion, and my girlfriend, who was emptying the kart's fuel to reduce weight. Between runs, I used a leaf blower to cool the engine."

      "My girlfriend organized the tires," Bearman smiled. "The engine got extremely hot—it was around 28 degrees— and performance declines when it overheats. It was a high-tech operation there!"

      "We even altered the layout slightly, shifted a few walls, and eventually accomplished it. I thought it would be simple! But it turned out to be quite the opposite."

      When inquired about the former lap record holder, Bearman joked, "He should be good enough for F1. He's twenty kilos lighter; that's my only reasoning. Apparently, he set that lap in April or May, and in Sweden, it's about minus twenty degrees."

      "That's my excuse, at least."

      However, the tale didn’t end there. The previous record holder, local 23-year-old Elton Zevenwacht, learned of Bearman's achievement and returned to the circuit to reclaim his title. Zevenwacht is now once again the lap record holder.