Haas F1 Team currently holds 7th place in the 2026 F1 Constructors’ Championship standings at Mid-Season mark, having scored 21 points through the first eleven rounds.
While Haas was quick to score points early in the season, they’ve been equally quick to lose their momentum. Last season, Esteban Ocon had earned 23 points by the summer break. Pit Debrief reviews Haas’ disappointing run as the 2026 F1 Mid-Season mark has arrived.
Haas 2026 F1 Mid-Season Review: 2/10
At the Mid-Season, a review of Haas’ performance shows a mixed picture. The team started strong, scoring points in the first three races. Ollie Bearman earned two top ten finishes, including a P5 in China. It was followed by Ocon nabbing a single point at the Japanese GP.
In Japan, Bearman had a massive 50G crash that was deemed a small misjudgment involving extreme closing speeds. Team Principal Ayao Komatsu took it as a lesson that with these new regulations, closing speed could be an issue.
The McLaren and Mercedes Team Principals addressed the safety issues with the crash and urged the FIA to make the appropriate regulation changes. Komatsu followed up on the near miss between Bearman and Colapinto, mentioning that Bearman was lucky to escape unscathed.
A spin from Max Verstappen in Miami created quite the challenge for the British driver as he avoided cars around turns two and three.
The young Brit dropped down before a Safety Car and eventual race restart. A slow pit stop for Haas created a window of opportunity for Albon’s Williams. Unfortunately for him, Bearman got stuck behind the Williams until the flag.
Haas’ early success was short-lived as their package showed in Canada earned them an underwhelming P10 by Bearman. Ocon followed it up with a P2 finish in Monaco thanks to a strategic pitstop that undercut two cars.
Haas managed to recover a couple of points before they hit a mid-season slump. After Monaco, there was a steep decline as they consistently struck out on points. Their biggest struggle was the consistency of the car, as the drivers complained they never knew what to expect.
Ocon mentioned the polarity with Haas, where one time they had straight-line issues and another time it could be downforce issues. Regardless of new or old parts, the problems continued. Ocon confirmed the circulating parts are now contributing to the problem.
The continuous cycling through parts leaves the impression that Haas is lost on the source of the problem. The Goldilocks effect brought more ideas of improvement as the Haas drivers found imbalance from front to rear downforce.
Bearman agreed with his teammate, explaining that they’re chasing a moving target every weekend. It comes as no surprise that Haas did not collect any more points in the last five races before summer break. The British driver feels they’re fighting with their hands tied behind their back.
Outqualified or outspent… well below the budget
The struggles Haas is having are not without cause. Having joined the grid a decade ago, they’re still considered a relatively new team. Komatsu acknowledges that they are operating well below the budget cap, and it is his responsibility to find more funding.
He knows they are the smallest team on the grid and face tight financial constraints. This added pressure makes the World Constructors’ Championship all the more important.
The Japanese Team Principal’s approach is long-term projection, alongside immediate problem-solving. He stated they’re working hard to change any culture of pushing problems down the road and would rather not make excuses for themselves.
Haas has a lot of improving to do as a team. While they’re focused on root cause analysis at the Mid-Season, they leave their drivers wondering what to expect for what’s left of the 2026 F1 season. The uncertainty the drivers had from weekend to weekend leaves Haas with a 2/10 in Pit Debrief’s 2026 Mid-Season review.
Ollie Bearman Mid-Season Review: 6/10
Ollie Bearman scored 18 of the 21 points for Haas at the Mid-Season mark. He started the F1 2026 season on the right foot, finishing P7 at the Australian GP.
Despite finishing P7, he was highly critical of the new boost system and new generation of cars. Even then, he noticed that having that much delta in a button and so much to lose on the next straight could be dangerous. He joked that it’s more similar to Formula E.
The Haas highlight of this Mid-Season review comes from the Chinese GP, where Bearman finished P5. Following the Chinese GP, Bearman said he was lucky to avoid a monster shunt around Turn 12 amidst a battle with Hadjar.
With the added wind of the weekend, he said the car balance was all over the place. Avoiding a collision with Hadjar left him behind the Alpines after Lap 1, but the British driver fought his way up to P5 after that.
Bearman’s concerns were a bit of foreshadowing as he did suffer a massive crash at the Japanese GP. In Suzuka, Bearman qualified P18 but charged his way up to P15. Around Lap 22, the British driver lost control against a superclipping Colapinto and slid into the barriers at Spoon.
The massive shunt considerably damaged the VF-26 and sent the 20-year-old to the medical centre. Though he limped out of the car, the Haas driver was fine.
Komatsu admitted that Bearman was disappointed in himself following the race. This was in part due to the contrast between a career-best in China and a massive crash in Japan.
Following the crash, Bearman earned only a single point for Haas at the Canadian GP. Haas entered the Montreal weekend with upgrades on the VF-26. Where progress was made, a costly pit stop resulted in the P10 finish for the British driver.
He ran on a one-stop strategy, but the Haas crew struggled with his right-rear tyre, costing him 45 seconds in the pits. Bearman was vocal that his P10 finish wasn’t cause for celebration.
He then suffered two more DNFs in Monaco and Barcelona. Following the Barcelona-Catalunya GP, where he would’ve finished 11th, the Haas driver anticipated more power-related issues.
Bearman highlighted their lack of downforce as the culprit and admitted there will be no progress until this is fixed. His frustrating weekend in Austria proved to be another example of their lack of pace.
Unfortunately, Bearman struck out for points in the remaining races ahead of the mid-season break. He mentioned lack of confidence in his VF-26 following the Hungarian GP. The constant polarity of the car makes it even tougher to drive. The lack of consistency makes every weekend a long one.
Par for the course
This time last year, Bearman had earned Haas a mere six points, so this improvement doesn’t go unnoticed. Following his rookie year, Bearman has managed to make some improvements, which earns him a 6/10 for the 2026 Haas Mid-Season review.
Interestingly, Bearman failed to earn any points last year on the same tracks. He picked up more points in the second half of the 2025 season, with Mexico being his career-best finish in P4. It was also tied for Haas’ highest-ever race finish with Romain Grosjean’s P4 at the 2018 Austrian GP.
If given improvements in the car, Bearman has many points left to collect during the remainder of the 2026 F1 season.
Esteban Ocon Mid-Season Review: 3/10
As Bearman catches some highs this season, it seems Ocon has caught most of the lows. Ocon collected a measly three points in the first half of the season. More often than not, Haas had issues with parts of his car, creating a tough season for the French driver.
Ocon had a difficult start in Australia, where he went as far as to say Haas had two different cars. He faced similar problems in 2025. This time, he reported his tyres degraded quite quickly due to issues with oversteer.
The Chinese GP brought on more strain as his teammate finished a contrasting P5 to Ocon’s P14. This came following his penalty for a collision with Colapinto that he admitted he deserved.
He tried to go for a gap on the inside but backed out too late, causing the collision and a spin for both parties. The 10-second penalty pushed him down the grid during a strong weekend for Haas.
Ocon scored his first point on the very same weekend as Bearman’s crash at the Japanese GP. He was thankful his teammate was okay, but recognised the safety car compromised his race. He lost two positions to Bortoleto and Lawson even though he claimed he had more pace than the Racing Bulls car.
The French driver believed he could’ve at least gotten one additional point but wasn’t too worried. Having been able to finish P10, he considered it an overall positive weekend, saying he got the maximum out of the car.
The Miami GP was unsuccessful for the Haas driver as he didn’t collect a single point. A lengthy pit stop cost him the weekend. He remained positive that improvements in Montreal would bring some luck his way.
His positivity was short-lived as he was one second slower every lap of the Canadian GP. Haas continued to work on improvements, and Ocon managed to earn his remaining two points ahead of the Mid-Season.
The Monaco GP seemed a stroke of luck for the team as they made the right call to pit the Frenchman and undercut both Cadillac and Alpine.
This was the only highlight as Ocon returned to the midfield pack for the remaining races. Ocon’s biggest struggle has been the consistency of the car. From one race to another, he seemingly flip-flopped between a ‘healthy car’ and persistent downforce problems.
At the British GP, he saw a silver lining as he climbed to P11 in the opening laps. Ultimately, the lack of pace dropped him down two positions, once again a points-less finish.
Underlying problems
Both in Austria and Hungary, Ocon reviewed the history of downforce problems and futile solutions ahead of the Mid-Season break. He struggled to keep his VF-26 on track as the team had still not repaired the missing rear aerodynamic load.
Combine that with the tyre degradation, and there’s no chance of performance. Ocon believed that the chassis wasn’t the problem due to their high turnover in parts. He later admitted that their continued recycling of parts added to the problem.
As Ocon struggles to keep his car on the track, he is in turmoil for points. Being 10th in the Drivers’ Championship at the mid-season point last year, he is a far cry from improving his position. Though seemingly no fault of his own at points, his shortage of points earns him a 3/10 for the 2026 Haas Mid-Season review.
