Haas’s Ollie Bearman endured a tough 2026 F1 Canadian GP with costly pit stop issues, despite finishing inside the points with a P10 result.
Bearman entered the Montreal weekend with upgrades on his Haas VF-26. However, the Brit struggled to find performance across all sessions, finishing Free Practice in P19, Sprint Qualifying in P15, the Sprint in P18, and GP Qualifying in P16.
In Sunday’s race, Bearman managed to make up six crucial positions before the end of the opening laps. Running on a one-stop strategy, he came into the pits on lap 30, where the Haas crew struggled with his right-rear tire, resulting in a lengthy 44.957s time spent in the pits; the stop itself was around 25s.
While Bearman could have finished P9 as he chased Carlos Sainz down near the end and had better pace, the stop forced him to settle for a P10 finish.
Bearman: “We shouldn’t have a big smile on our face”
Speaking after the 2026 F1 Canadian GP, Bearman reflected on the difficult race, noting that the team struggled for pace, consistency, and execution despite ultimately claiming a point.
“Dodgy is probably the word to describe it. Pretty dodgy,” he began in the print media pen, describing his slow pit stop. “Yeah, it was a tough race and honestly I’m not sure we deserved a point after our execution today in all areas, but you know, I’m happy to take it. There’s definitely been other races where probably we deserved more and didn’t get it, so swings and roundabouts.”
He added: “But yeah, it was a tough one again. We lacked a bit of pace, lacked a bit of feeling with the car. Honestly, it’s been so hard to drive and put on the limit and I was risking so much every lap to really yield, not impressive lap times at all. So yeah, tough to be consistent, tough to extract performance. On top of that, poor pit stop, which cost us the chance of P9. So yeah, it’s been a tough weekend all round. We can take home the point, but we shouldn’t have a big smile on our face with it.”
Bearman further expressed his frustration when reminded that Carlos Sainz, who took a gamble and started on intermediate tyres, finished ahead of him in P9.
“Yeah, well, he wouldn’t have, but I was stationary in the pits for a while. But that goes to show that as long as you basically complete the race, you’re finishing the points today with a half-decent car. So, like I said, we shouldn’t be over the moon.”
Learning from the upgrades
When asked about what the team will analyse and take away from the new upgrade package after the 2026 F1 Canadian GP, Bearman shared: “Yeah, on a Sprint weekend it’s tough, but that’s no excuse. Others have done it better than we have. It’s been tough to get performance.”
Beyond Haas, several other teams brought upgrades to Montreal, such as their midfield rivals Alpine, Williams, and Racing Bulls. Notably, they were able to incorporate their upgrades better, with, for example, both Alpine cars finishing inside the top eight.
“You know, we’ve kind of been chasing our tails quite a lot. Where we started in Quali was a total unknown, and obviously then you’re in Parc Fermé. And now we’ve uncovered a bunch of new issues with the car, which we never knew before. I’m sure if we start at the weekend as we finish in terms of setup, we’re going to be fighting for points on merit. But today it wasn’t the case.
“The car was so hard to drive. The performance is there, I can feel it, but just getting the characteristics to calm down a bit, that’s the goal. That’s what we’re going to have to look into, especially before Monaco, because you’ve got to be confident against the walls there.”
Montreal’s track conditions influence analysis
Further discussing Haas’ attempts to optimise its upgraded car, Bearman said the conditions at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve also played a key role.
“I mean, this track is also really unique, you know, with the amount of bumps. Generally, we’re not really enjoying to run our car in a way that is giving us confidence over the bumps. In terms of pure performance, it doesn’t seem to work.
“So let’s see if that also translates onto the flatter tracks, if we’re still struggling with this kind of through-corner balance limitation that we have. But this weekend it’s just been really tough to find confidence in the car, to push the entries. I feel like I’m, you know, risking to put it in the wall every lap, basically. So it’s not been the most fun weekend.”
