The American Formula 1 team Haas has once again thrown away potential points at the Belgian Grand Prix due to two pit stops executed too late. Similar mistakes had already occurred earlier in the season at Silverstone, revealing that when rain complicates the race, Haas’ pit stop operations tend to falter and underperform.
While Sauber’s performance levels have significantly improved and their competitiveness is on the rise, Haas appears to be struggling. The United States-based team, which started the 2025 season strongly, is currently going through a difficult phase where it fails to fully capitalize on the potential of its VF-25 racing car.
During last weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix at the iconic Spa-Francorchamps circuit, Haas managed to make the most of the Saturday Sprint Race. Both Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman scored points in the sprint format.
In the shorter Sprint Race—where pit stops are generally avoided unless there are obvious tire or car issues—the French and British drivers showed great skill in taking advantage of their excellent Friday Sprint Qualifying performances to bring home valuable points for the Formula 1 Constructors’ Championship. However, looking at the last five races, Haas is the team that has scored the fewest points overall.
Considering the five teams currently battling for sixth place in the Constructors’ Championship (a position currently held by Sauber), Haas has collected just nine points from the Spanish Grand Prix through to the Belgian Grand Prix. As shown in the table below, this is the poorest points tally among the teams aiming for a top-six finish. Even Alpine has managed to achieve better results.
What has spoiled Haas’ Sunday races in the last two rounds—specifically the British and Belgian Grands Prix—has been the team’s pit stop operations. Strategic decisions during these critical moments severely hampered Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman, especially in two rain-affected races where weather conditions played a decisive role.
At Spa-Francorchamps, the team called both drivers into the pits one lap too late, keeping them out on deteriorating Intermediate tires while their rivals capitalized on a well-timed undercut strategy.
Before the pit stops, Ocon and Bearman were running in 11th and 12th positions respectively. However, after the delayed stops, they found themselves down in 14th and 20th place. Despite the VF-25’s strong pace enabling them to recover several positions, it was not enough to secure points finishes.
It is worth noting that Esteban Ocon lost approximately 28 seconds to Lewis Hamilton due to making his pit stop two laps later than the seven-time World Champion driving for Ferrari, who had started the race from the pit lane after fitting a new power unit.
“This is all very frustrating. I believe a couple of crucial decisions did not go in the right direction,” Ocon explained after the race. “The first, obviously, was making the pit stop two laps too late. We need to review what happened in the last two races because when it rains, it’s clear there are problems putting everything together.”
“The other issue was that during the pit stop, I was fitted with a set of used tires even though the garage had a new set available. So I ended up doing 35 laps on used tires, and that cost me a lot of time. It was a very big mistake.”
Oliver Bearman also experienced problems related to pit stop operations: “It’s incredibly frustrating,” the British driver said after the Belgian Grand Prix. “We made the pit stop one lap too late to change from Intermediate tires to slicks. Because of that, several drivers behind me managed to undercut us. Of course, these things happen, and it’s difficult to make these decisions.”
Bearman also had to deal with a separate engine issue: “On my side, I couldn’t give much information to the team because I was focused on managing an engine problem. I was struggling, especially with recharging the battery.”
The points scored in the Sprint Race have brought Haas closer to eighth place in the Constructors’ Championship. Aston Martin is now just one point ahead (36 to 35), but the team led by Technical Director Ayao Komatsu will need to review several operational aspects if it wants to attempt a comeback. This remains entirely possible, considering that Racing Bulls sit at 41 points. Haas aims to finish this final season under the current technical regulations far from the less desirable positions at the back of the midfield pack.
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