Oliver Bearman, a British Formula 1 driver, was eliminated in the first qualifying session at the Sepang circuit, and he has attributed this outcome to a settings error made by his team, Haas, on Friday. The error significantly disrupted his preparation for the weekend, causing him to struggle throughout the session. Bearman noted that the configuration installed on his car was not the one the team had intended, leaving him with a vehicle setup that would typically be avoided in a race scenario. The issue began during the second practice session on Friday, known as EL2. Haas believed they had applied a specific configuration to Bearman's car, but in reality, the settings were entirely different. This led to an unexpected performance from the car, which made it difficult for Bearman to gather useful data for the qualifying session. While his first practice session, EL1, went relatively smoothly, the second session immediately highlighted the problem. Bearman described the situation as unusual, noting that the car's setup was so out of the ordinary that even on an oval track—known for its specific handling requirements—such settings would not be used. After completing his first lap in EL2, Bearman informed his team that something was wrong with the car. This error had a major impact on his preparation, as the time gaps between his laps were too large to provide reliable data. Despite Haas correcting the issue before Saturday's EL3 session, Bearman was already at a disadvantage. He finished 17th in this session, having to catch up on work that other drivers had already completed the day before. It was only during his final run before qualifying that Bearman regained a sense of normalcy with the car. He emphasized that the error was not the fault of any individual but rather a result of procedures not being followed properly. Bearman believes the team needs to review its internal processes to prevent such issues in the future. He expressed frustration at being eliminated from qualifying, feeling that the error cost him a chance to compete in the next session.