Haas, together with British driver Oliver Bearman, is preparing for the opening round of the 2026 Formula 1 season in Australia.
The season begins
One week after the MotoGP engines roared into life in Thailand, it is now time for Formula 1 to get serious as well. As has been tradition for almost the past thirty years, the championship will begin this weekend at the Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne, host of the Australian Grand Prix. It is a highly anticipated event, not only because fans will finally see the cars racing wheel-to-wheel again, but also because it will mark the competitive debut of the new-generation single-seaters outside the context of pre-season testing.
Compared to last year, the cars must now comply with a significantly revised technical regulation package, introducing rules that are still not entirely straightforward to interpret. This regulatory reset has opened the door to uncertainty and potential surprises across the grid.
The surprise of testing
New chassis concepts and power units have ushered in a fresh era of Formula 1, one that could reshuffle the competitive order and produce unexpected results. Based solely on winter testing, one of the teams that attracted the most attention was the Haas VF-26, powered by Ferrari. In particular, the American outfit impressed with its reliability and the total number of laps completed, a crucial factor in a season shaped by new regulations.
Haas arrives in Australia with the ambition of securing at least a top-three finish, something the team has yet to achieve in its ten-year history in Formula 1. Its best result so far remains the pole position claimed by Kevin Magnussen at the Brazilian Grand Prix in 2022 — a historic milestone that demonstrated the team’s potential under the right circumstances.
The team’s hard work
There have been major technical changes, but not within the driver line-up. Haas continues with Oliver Bearman and Esteban Ocon as its race pairing for the new campaign. Enthusiasm around the British driver is clear, although the 20-year-old will need to exercise caution from the very first weekend of the season, as he currently leads the penalty points standings and is just two points away from a race ban.
“Although the winter break was short, it now feels like a long time since we were all eager to discover the true performance of this new generation of Formula 1 cars,” Bearman commented. “For the team, it has been a monumental effort. Many people have been away from home for several weeks, working around the clock and across multiple time zones to ensure our testing program ran smoothly and efficiently, and for that I am truly grateful. Pre-season testing answered many of our questions and, although there is still a lot to learn, I believe we are building on solid foundations. I arrived in Melbourne this weekend early to fight the jet lag and also to have the chance to see a bit of this fantastic city. The Albert Park Circuit is a phenomenal track that will really test all of us, and it is crucial that we remain reliable and consistent in these opening races. Last year was a learning experience from start to finish for me, but after 12 months I feel completely ready for the weekend ahead.”
Proud of the team
Esteban Ocon is equally motivated for the first round of the championship and, like his teammate, underlined the scale of the team’s effort over the winter period.
“The first race of a new season is always an exciting moment for everyone,” added the French driver. “Months of hard work will finally be put to the test, and I am personally very excited about this new challenge and about returning to racing. It has been a monumental effort from the entire team to prepare the car for Fiorano, Barcelona and then Bahrain. We had a couple of successful weeks of testing and the team can be very proud of itself. Starting the season in Australia is always a challenge, with the long journey and the time difference, but it is a fantastic event and Melbourne is an amazing city with incredible energy. The Albert Park layout is a unique street circuit — bumpy and tricky — which will be particularly interesting with this new generation of cars. I cannot wait to get on track in Melbourne and see how we compare to the competition. In what promises to be a tight midfield battle, consistency will be key, so we will aim to maintain momentum and start the season strongly.”
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