Haas F1’s Ollie Bearman heads into the 2026 season with renewed energy and excitement as he prepares for his second year in Formula 1. An impressive rookie campaign alongside experienced teammate Esteban Ocon earned the 20 year-old a 13th-place finish in the Drivers’ Standings with 41 points and recorded a best race-finish of 4th at the Mexico City GP.
As the season gets underway, the Briton reflected on his off-season during Haas’ pre-season Q&A. Bearman said: “It was a very short off-season. I’ve been told they’re not normally like this, but I’ve only experienced a short one like this so far. It was nice first of all, to get a break after the post-season test, although we still had a lot of things to do like simulator work for this year, and also do seat fit for this year’s car as well.
“The last activity I had was on December 23, but between that, I was also able to have a good amount of time off and spend some time with my family. Most importantly, I could recover and reset my batteries for the new season.”
Bearman: Aim is to bring Haas further up the field in 2026
The 2026 season marks a new chapter for Formula 1, with a regulation change and new brands joining the grid. Though he believes the regulation change is one of the most significant in the sport’s history, Bearman admitted it brings a new level of excitement as he prepares to experience a regulation change for the first time in his career. Reflecting on the 2025 season, he noted the progress and consistent performance they were able to consistently deliver.
“I feel these changes are the biggest in the history of Formula 1, so with that is a huge deal of excitement for me. I’m heading into a regulation change for the first time in my life, really.
“Last year was a big step for me, but I think even from the beginning, we knew that if we put the car in the right window, we were still going to be able to fight for points, and we had an idea of the competitiveness of the car.
“That lack of knowledge heading into 2026 is good and bad, as on one side I feel like we can really have an impact straight away, but also it’s horrible not knowing. I would like to skip forward six months to see where we are, but I’m going to be giving it everything to make sure that where we are is as high up as possible.”
A short reset before the focus returned to preparations
While the off-season offered some relaxation for Bearman, preparation for the 2026 F1 season quickly came around once again. The Briton shared: “Firstly, I spent the whole of December out of the gym, no physical training really, simply trying to relax and spend a bit of time enjoying myself. I think it’s really important where you have no races and a bit of time to enjoy yourself.
“Then, quite quickly, it comes around and you’re back to training, and I spent a lot of time in the mountains this winter break. Not only is that really beneficial – the altitude for your health and training – but I was also able to conduct a training camp in the Dolomites, which was incredibly fun and very useful heading into the new season.
“Maybe a bit of a sugar ban…”, Bearman joked.
Bearman “excited” to continue showing his potential in 2026 F1 season
Overall, the Briton’s rookie campaign proved to be a year of progress. Despite a brief dip in form during the European leg, Bearman recorded a career-best finish of 4th at the Mexico City GP and enjoyed a strong second half of the year.
The 20 year-old said: “It was a year where I certainly learned a lot, not only about myself as a person, or as an athlete, but also about Formula 1. I’ve really increased my knowledge base infinitely, because I’ve been put in experiences that you just can’t learn prior to experiencing them.
“I’ve definitely improved a lot in all of those areas and I’m really happy with how the season went, particularly the second-half. You know, I really upped my game, I felt like in the second half of the season, I started to put down some really some results that I was really happy with, and that was critical for me. I’m excited to continue that this year.”
As he heads into the new season, Bearman — like much of the grid — faces plenty of unknowns with questions still unanswered around the new regulations. With the season-opener in Melbourne approaching, he anticipates a significant shake-up in the pecking order.
“It’s impossible to gauge where we’re going to be right now. Everything I’m seeing from the team is positive, but we don’t know how we stack up, and we won’t know until qualifying in Australia. Even then, I feel like in the first few races reliability is going to be playing a big factor. There are going to be teams and people making mistakes with these new regulations.It’s going to be tough to establish a true pecking order.”
Eager to return to circuits with a greater understanding
Having conquered all 24 circuits on the 2025 F1 calendar, Haas driver Ollie Bearman is looking forward to return to them with confidence in 2026. Even at track’s where he’s only visited once, the knowledge gained from his first F1 season should give him a stronger starting points against his competitors in 2026.
“I’m most excited to return to all of these circuits, having experienced a race weekend
already. I now understand how a track evolves through the weekend, how the tires perform, and what changes may have tripped me up last year. More often than not, last year, I was going to new circuits where my competition had been plenty of times.
“Of course, I’m now going to circuits that I’ve only driven at once, and where my competition has driven 10 or 11 times, but I feel like even just having one race weekend’s worth of experience at a circuit, and the knowledge base that I’ve built up from a full season of F1 is going to put me in a much better place.”
