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Motorsport

Ben Vinel

Has Haas actually been outdeveloped by its F1 rivals?

Haas Oliver Bearman F1 Ayao Komatsu LAT Images Racing Bulls Simon Galloway

Formula 1’s new era got off to a great start for the Haas team as Oliver Bearman shone early on, but things have become trickier of late.

After the first two grands prix of the season, Haas lay fourth in the constructors’ championship – ahead of Red Bull – courtesy of Bearman’s standout results, seventh in Melbourne and fifth in China.

But since the April break, Haas has scored just three points – fewer than anyone but the struggling Cadillac and Aston Martin outfits. Initially a Q3 contender, the Ferrari-powered VF-26 now struggles to make it out of Q1.

This contrasts with the 2025 campaign, where Haas’ results ramped up as it scored 2.5 points per round before the summer break but 4.4 points on average later on. According to Bearman, there are two reasons for this.

“If you look at last year, the regulations were incredibly mature, and across the year we didn't really add much performance to the car, but we bought [upgrades] at the right time and everybody was adding small amounts,” the Briton explained.

Oliver Bearman, Haas F1 Team (Photo by: Guido De Bortoli / LAT Images via Getty Images)

“But now if you look at the gradient of development, it's much higher. People are bringing massive overhauls to their cars almost on a weekly basis. If you look at the front teams, it's quite impressive how much they're able to bring and the rate of development they're able to achieve. First of all, that's something that we simply couldn't do.

“But second of all, I think looking compared to our competition, we've just been overtaken in terms of development. We haven't brought enough to the car compared to them. On top of that, what we've bought to the car hasn't really worked, let's say. We've been a bit disappointed by that.”

Haas has actually brought updates to every race since the April break, including a substantial upgrade package in Canada. Still, team principal Ayao Komatsu doesn’t deny that his side has been outdeveloped by its rivals.

“I think the first statement is a fair statement,” Komatsu said. “If you look at it clearly, Racing Bulls, hats off to them. I think the upgrades have been impressive. When they put a new floor on, I think they clearly saw the jump. But then again, Audi, they've been very quick for a long time. So in terms of development race, yes, it's a fair statement to say that we've been outdeveloped.”

Arvid Lindblad, Racing Bulls, Esteban Ocon, Haas F1 Team (Photo by: Simon Galloway / LAT Images via Getty Images)

Racing Bulls has impressed the paddock by becoming the clear fifth force in the pecking order since introducing that new floor in Canada, having scored 45 points over the last five grands prix and always had at least one car in Q3 over that period of time. That’s even both cars in the latest three qualifying sessions, in Austria and Britain.

But when it comes to Haas’ updates ‘not really working’, only the team can really know how accurate that is. On this specific point, Komatsu disagrees with his driver, explaining that Haas is hindered by its car’s intrinsic traits.

“I don't think it's a fair statement,” the Japanese said. “We brought new parts in Montreal, right? If we look at the delivery of those new parts, actually they have delivered, mostly on areas we expected.

“The downforce itself is delivered, but is it a usable downforce or not? Not really, depending on the circuit. For instance, if you look at first two races where we performed, Melbourne and Shanghai, that played [to] the strength of our car and then masked the weakness of our car. Then when you go to places like Miami, it started showing the weakness. And then more recent races, our understanding is quite a lot better.

“I wouldn't say the upgrade didn't deliver. It's just the fundamental underlying handling characteristics we had on this car, which wasn't evident in race one, two, but started becoming evident in race five. Unfortunately, that was after that one-month period, right?” he added, referring to the unexpected five-week April break due to the outbreak of the Iran war.

“So I'd like to improve the team so that things we find in race five, in the future I'd like to find out in race one or pre-season testing. But that's the process to improve the team.”

Ayao Komatsu, Haas F1 Team (Photo by: Simon Galloway / LAT Images via Getty Images)

Haas might struggle again in the next couple of weekends, until another substantial package is introduced, Bearman reckoned.

“This weekend we have a new front wing, which is good,” he added. “It should be a little step forward. But the more interesting thing that we're waiting for is going to come after the summer break.

“The job really for the next few events is to try and get the most out of what we have now. To try and fully understand it because there's still something that we're missing compared to what we're seeing at home, basically. We need to understand that before we can put the new package on. Because if we put the new package on without maximising what we have now, it's a waste of time.”