Haas’ Ollie Bearman endured quite a frustrating weekend at the 2026 F1 Austrian GP. Following a P14 finish in the Grand Prix, the Briton spoke in the print media pen, admitting that after struggling for pace throughout the entire weekend, the team could have extracted way more than what they had to offer over the weekend.
After an early Q2 exit and qualifying 13th for Sunday’s Grand Prix, Bearman struggled to convert his grid position into a meaningful result and finished one position behind where he originally started — admitting that while he felt great with the car heading into qualifying, it had little to no impact on the team’s overall competitiveness and his ability to push for Q3.
Bearman labels 2026 F1 Austrian GP as an “anonymous” weekend
At the Red Bull Ring, Haas found themselves unable to match the progress of several midfield rivals, leaving Bearman in a race of his own with an uncompetitive car rather than fighting for points.
From his perspective, Bearman described his bleak weekend as largely uneventful.
“Not much to talk about. It was a very anonymous weekend,” the Briton shared.
The 21-year-old was left at a crossroads of sorts; on one hand, he was assured that he maximised the most out of the car to the best of his abilities; on the other, he was disappointed by why the VF-26 produced little to no performance.
“I did my very best, both in qualifying and race, and tried to maximise everything, and I really think I did, you know. If you look at where I finished, I don’t think I could have really done any better. I was driving as fast as I could, managed as well as I could everything, but we’re just not quick enough this weekend.”
A recurring pattern for Haas in the last three F1 Grands Prix
When questioned whether Austria revealed the true pace of the Haas package or whether the attributes of the Red Bull Ring heightened the weak spots of the VF-26, the Briton confessed that the team’s struggles were not unique to Spielberg and had been evident over several recent race weekends.
“That’s where we are.”
While he didn’t entirely dismiss the deficit being a track-specific issue, he highlighted a recurring theme in Monaco and Barcelona — both races that ended in a retirement.
“I think the gaps change depending on the track, depending on the straights, and here we were maybe a bit further away, but in Barcelona it was the same, and the race before that in Monaco was similar. That’s our pace, unfortunately.”
A persistent downforce issue turning into a nightmare for Ollie Bearman
The 2026 Austrian GP was just another weekend that highlighted Haas’ ongoing issue — downforce. Bearman shared that the wall standing between Haas and a positive weekend is the lack of rear downforce that compromises the car through multiple corners on a track.
Bearman labelled the execution as a “nightmare” when it came to dealing with any attributes of a corner, such as high speeds and corner exits.
“It’s the main issue that we struggle with. It’s downforce in general, of course, but especially at the rear. We really struggle on the entry phase of the corner, so we have to run quite low aero balance to survive, let’s say, and on exit also struggling a lot with the rear, so traction at the start of the race was a nightmare.
“High speed was a nightmare, corner exits were a nightmare, so it was just really tough to look after the tyres and hold on.”
Upgrades reflect harsh realities of Haas’ current position
Haas has introduced fewer upgrades than many of its direct competitors this season, and when asked whether the team’s difficult run would continue until new developments arrived, Bearman acknowledged that the current limitations simply reflect where the VF-26 stands relative to the rest of the field.
Despite the disappointing result, he praised the work done by the engineers over the weekend, insisting the team had optimized everything within its control.
“I think that’s the car we have, and we have some work to do. Honestly, looking at the stuff that’s in our control, and also the engineers’ control, we maximise everything, because I’m happy with the set-up we put down. I think this is just a harsh reality of where we are right now.
“There’s nothing we could have done to achieve a higher position, other than other cars.”
Bearman described the performance deficit as the “harsh reality” of Haas’ current position. Drawing comparisons from the season opener in Melbourne and China, where other teams were consistent with introducing upgrades, which helped them gain an upper hand in moving ahead.
“Yeah, they’ve bought more upgrades, and they’ve bought more effective upgrades as well, so they’ve made a big step forward, and we haven’t.”
