Oliver Bearman managed to salvage a respectable qualifying performance for Haas at the 2026 Mexico City Grand Prix despite a chaotic weekend marked by Esteban Ocon’s unexpected exclusion, technical problems and an unpredictable car. The British driver progressed into Q2 and showed encouraging pace, although a mistake at Turn 12 prevented him from achieving a potentially stronger result.
For Haas, maintaining full concentration on Saturday’s qualifying session was always going to be difficult. Friday’s sudden upheaval had already forced the American team to reorganise its weekend after Esteban Ocon was unexpectedly sidelined and replaced by Ryo Hirakawa for reasons that had not yet been fully clarified. Engine changes and further technical difficulties only added to the disruption, leaving the team struggling to establish a consistent working programme.
Oliver Bearman salvages Haas Mexico GP qualifying despite major setbacks
Amid the uncertainty, Oliver Bearman nevertheless found a way to demonstrate the potential of the Haas VF-26. The British driver successfully negotiated Q1 and appeared capable of making further progress during the second part of qualifying, only for an error at Turn 12 to compromise what had been shaping up to be a particularly promising lap.
After the session, Oliver Bearman explained just how difficult it had been to prepare for qualifying following the problems encountered during final practice.
“It was a good session, considering what happened in FP3, when we found ourselves with a car that practically wasn’t working. In Q2, I was putting together a really good lap, but I made a mistake at Turn 12. It’s a shame,” the Haas driver explained.
His comments highlighted the difficulties of approaching qualifying without reliable reference points from the preceding practice sessions. Although the car demonstrated competitive potential, its unpredictable performance made it difficult to extract that speed consistently.
“The car is quick. The problem is that we can’t make it competitive in every session. That makes it difficult to push it consistently to the limit. I’m still confident about tomorrow because the pace looks good, and we should be further up the grid than we are.”
Ayao Komatsu explains Haas’s unpredictable qualifying performance
Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu acknowledged that the team had failed to provide Oliver Bearman with the ideal conditions to maximise his performance. The difficulties encountered during FP2 and FP3 had effectively disrupted the driver’s preparation, forcing him to rediscover his confidence in the car during qualifying itself.
“FP1 had been very positive, but in FP2 and FP3 the car wasn’t where it should have been, and Ollie completely lost his reference points. We managed to find a good baseline again for qualifying, but that meant approaching the first run in Q1 practically as though it were the first lap of FP1,” Ayao Komatsu explained.
The team principal nevertheless praised the British driver’s efforts, recognising that Oliver Bearman had been making significant improvements in Q2 before pushing too hard at Turn 12. The mistake undoubtedly proved costly, but it also needed to be considered in the context of a weekend during which Haas had struggled to maintain continuity in its running programme.
For a team already dealing with the unexpected change involving Esteban Ocon and Ryo Hirakawa, the technical setbacks made the challenge even more complicated. Oliver Bearman’s ability to reach Q2 and demonstrate encouraging pace therefore offered Haas at least one positive development during an otherwise turbulent Saturday.
Although the qualifying result fell short of what the car appeared capable of achieving, the British driver’s confidence in his race pace provided some grounds for optimism ahead of Sunday’s Mexico City Grand Prix.
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