Haas continues to lose ground in the Formula 1 midfield despite introducing a long list of upgrades throughout the season. Instead of climbing back into contention, the American team appears to have slipped even further behind its rivals. Silverstone offered another clear indication of the VF-26’s struggles, with the car lacking outright pace, remaining well short of Q3, and even losing ground to Audi during the Sprint race.
Oliver Bearman: “I don’t see how we could have finished higher than 14th”
Oliver Bearman did not hide his frustration with the current state of the VF-26. Although the British driver enjoyed an encouraging opening phase in the Sprint, he was eventually powerless to resist the stronger race pace of the cars around him.
“I got a good start and managed to gain a few positions on the opening lap, but then we went back to where we deserved to be. The Audis found their pace and caught me very easily. After the first few laps I started struggling with the front-left tyre, and from that point on there wasn’t much I could do.”
His assessment after qualifying was even more revealing. Bearman believes both he and the team extracted virtually everything the car had to offer, but that the package simply isn’t capable of fighting any higher than the seventh row.
“I think I got the maximum out of the car. Honestly, I don’t see any scenario where we could have done better than 14th. The car is incredibly difficult to drive. We’re dealing with completely different problems compared to earlier in the season. I struggle on corner entry in slow and medium-speed corners, while in the high-speed sections I’m heavily limited by understeer. After the Sprint we tried adding more downforce, but it doesn’t seem to have worked.”
The upgrades are not delivering the expected results
Bearman’s comments paint a worrying picture for Haas. The team continues to bring updates to the VF-26, yet each new development seems to shift the problems rather than solve them. The result is a car that has become increasingly difficult to set up, suffering from different weaknesses than those seen at the start of the season while failing to make the step forward the team had hoped for.
The comparison with its direct rivals is equally concerning. Earlier in the year Haas was regularly fighting for places in Q3, but now Bearman considers 14th to be the best realistic outcome. At the same time, Audi has built a clear advantage in race pace, underlining just how much the competitive order has shifted.
Esteban Ocon offered a slightly more optimistic assessment. The Frenchman felt that the latest setup changes finally produced a better-balanced car, although a yellow flag on his final qualifying lap prevented him from discovering the VF-26’s true potential.
“The team gave me a much better car than we’ve had over the last few races. We had more rear grip and were able to carry good speed through the fast corners. Unfortunately, I had to lift because of a yellow flag, and I lost around two tenths, which also compromised my energy management for the rest of the lap.”
Even so, the Sprint highlighted Haas’ underlying weakness once again. Like Bearman, Ocon made an excellent start but eventually had to concede to the superior pace of the Audi cars once they began to push at full speed.
Ayao Komatsu: “The car simply isn’t fast enough”
Team principal Ayao Komatsu summed up Haas’ current situation with refreshing honesty. While he praised the collaboration between the trackside team and the factory, he admitted that the biggest issue remains the performance of the VF-26 itself.
“We’re learning a lot, and the work between the team at the track and the factories is working well. All of this information will be valuable for future development, but the reality is that the car simply isn’t fast enough. More than the final position, what concerns us is the large gap to Q3. We know where we need to improve, and we want to become competitive again as quickly as possible.”
For Haas, Silverstone served as another reminder that understanding the VF-26 is only part of the challenge. Turning that knowledge into meaningful performance gains has become the team’s biggest priority as the season moves into its second half.
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