Ollie Bearman foresees difficult weekends for Haas in the upcoming races due to lack of downforce, after power related DNF from 2026 F1 Barcelona-Catalunya GP.
After the high in Australia and China, it has been a struggle for Haas’ Bearman in the following races, with just one points results in the last five races. To go with the retirements in Japan and Monaco, the Brit also retired from last weekend’s F1 Barcelona-Catalunya GP.
Although he was classified in 17th, he did not see the chequered flag while running 13th due to power related issue. He would have finished 11th if not for his retirement. But in larger context, that was the pace they had, which was not enough to score points against their immediate rivals.
Bearman says Haas’ maximum was outside Top 10 in Barcelona
Both Alpine and Racing Bulls looked strong, leaving Haas to battle Audi for most part. “Pretty much,” started Bearman in the print media pen. “Actually, I was having a really good race for the car that we have. I was running 13th, which was the maximum that we could have achieved.
P11 would have been a good result
“Then the two cars in front of us retired, so I would have ended up P11. I was fighting with Gabi, I was just ahead of him at the time, but unfortunately with a few laps to go I had an issue with the car. I had just run out of power and had to retire.
“So that was a shame, but anyway P11 would have been where we finish, which, considering everything, is I think quite a good result. We were definitely punching above our weight, we pulled off a really good strategy, but nothing else than P11 was possible really,” summed up Bearman.
Lack of downforce hurting Haas
Haas is only seventh in the F1 constructors’ championship with 21 points, which is 20 less than sixth placed Racing Bulls (41) and 10 more than eighth placed Williams (11). They are in no man’s land and it is not going to change anytime soon, as per Bearman.
The Brit doesn’t foresee much change in their performance or luck due to the lack of downforce. “We are struggling at the moment,” continued Bearman. “It’s a difficult car that we’ve had, we’re just missing a bit of downforce so we need to make a step there. But I foresee some difficult events in the near future until we can get on top of that.”
