Fresh off the back of the Bahrain tests, Ollie Bearman shared his understanding of the 2026 F1 machines.
After completing 199 laps in the second week, Bearman keeps his optimism heading into the new season while being grounded by the realities of the pre-season testing.
2026 regulations brought a shift in driving the F1 car
Bearman elaborated that under the 2026 F1 regulations, the new design of the Formula 1 cars fundamentally changed where the drivers should place their focus.
The 2026 regulations introduced an equal divide between internal combustion and electric power.
From now on, drivers need to manage energy and battery regeneration in order to extract the optimal performance out of their cars. It’s complicated by the fact out laps need to be carefully driven because of it, meaning the tyre temps could be well out of the window when starting a fast lap.
“There’s a few more things you have to think about and a few more things taking your focus away from the driving, in a way.
“On out laps, where before you could focus fully on tyres and brakes and preparing them as well as possible, now there’s the element of having the engine ready and having the battery ready as well, which definitely makes things more complicated.
“There have been some qualifying laps where I had a different outcome from doing what I felt was the same thing and that’s obviously difficult to understand and the challenge.“
Just a matter of time
Despite the challenges, Bearman believes that it is only a matter of time before adapting to the new 2026 F1 regulations and the requirements of the car. The British driver looks at the situation from a realistic point of view and mentions that it is natural to have these issues ahead of the season.
He identifies the gear usage as an important part of mastering the 2026 cars’ machinery.
“Obviously at this stage, it’s more likely to have these things. Actually, driving the car is quite similar but there’s a few more things that you have to do, which maybe is not ideal as a feeling, but it’s faster.
“For example, the gear usage is very critical, which is how it is. Some things at the moment for us feel unnatural, but it’s normal that we’ve come from very different regulations and that’s the reason it feels unnatural soon it will be natural again. It’s just a matter of time.“
An improving self and a team dynamic
Reflecting on the 2026 pre-season tests, Bearman touched upon his progress as an F1 sophomore driver. With a year of experience in his pocket, he no longer goes with the flow. Learning the set-up targets and car balance last year, Bearman gave solid feedback to maintain productive pre-season testing.
He also highlighted that their internal dynamic at Haas had improved a lot since last year, when the team changed both race engineers.
“There’s been a big step from everyone’s side, first of all, the working relationship between everyone has improved so much. This time last year we had two new drivers to the team, two new engineers in new roles. So in terms of our working relationship, it’s improved infinitely, and we have a much clearer idea of what we want to get out of the tests.
“For example, I found this test to be way more productive. Also because from my side I have a much clearer idea of what does a good car look like, what does a good balance look like, what should we target, whereas last year I was kind of just going with the flow. So of course I have a lot more info and help to give with my extra experience and also there’s been no big warning flags or alarm bells like there was 12 months ago so that’s really positive.”
