The 2026 F1 Miami GP will mark the resumption of the season and the first of three home races in America for Haas.
The American outfit has had a strong start to the 2026 F1 season. Ollie Bearman started the season on a high note. The Briton finished in the points in both the opening two rounds of the season. On the other side of the garage, teammate Esteban Ocon is slowly starting to find his footing. The Frenchman had obtained his maiden points of the season with a P10 placement at the Japanese GP ahead of the break.
The team now sits P4 in the 2026 Constructors’ Championship with a total of 46 points. Haas will be looking to continue the strong momentum as they enter the 2026 F1 Miami GP weekend.
Team Principal Ayao Komatsu on how Haas optimised the break prior to the 2026 F1 Miami GP
Haas Team Principal Ayao Komatsu spoke on the five-week break and shared how the team has been using the time away from the track. One of the highlights he mentioned was the team’s fan engagement session. Ahead of the 2026 F1 Miami GP, Bearman and Ocon made an appearance on London’s Carnaby Street for a meet-and-greet. Komatsu also added that these events would not be possible during the regular season. He is also looking forward to seeing the support of fans at the 2026 F1 Miami GP weekend.
“While we’ve all missed the thrill of competition, the time away we’ve had since the Japanese Grand Prix has been well spent across our many team operations. We’ve enjoyed some fantastic fan and partner engagement opportunities with the drivers, events that ordinarily we wouldn’t have been able to commit to during a regular start to a season. To see the support that’s out there for the team has been amazing, especially as we head into our first home race of the season in the United States.”
Komatsu also shared an insight of the technical side. The 50-year-old shared that the team had been utilising the five-week break to gain better insights of the VF-26. According to Komatsu, Haas have been analysing the data from the first three rounds of the season to pinpoint any areas of improvements. The team also plans to bring more upgrades to their 2026 challenger.
“On the technical side, we’ve deepened our understanding of the VF-26 following the first three races – we’ve obviously had more time to analyze our data from those races and continued to look to further improve reliability and ultimately our vehicle performance.”
The Japanese also expressed his excitement as Haas approaches the second Sprint weekend of the season at the 2026 F1 Miami GP. He hopes they will be able to continue to impress just like they had ahead of the break.
“We head to Miami keen to build on the points-scoring performances we’ve earned at each round so far, but we believe there’s more to unlock and we had some good momentum going before the break – which has been anything but a break in reality. Finally, it’s a Sprint weekend, which always brings time pressures and challenges – but it’s the same for everyone. The positive thing is we’re back racing and we always enjoy our time in Miami, we can’t wait to get going.”
Bearman on returning to the track and racing in Miami
Bearman mirrors Komatsu excitement on approaching a Sprint weekend and returning to the track. The Briton is looking forward to the challenge of the weekend as well as the new regulations.
Ahead of the 2026 F1 Miami GP, refinements to the regulations were agreed upon by the key stakeholders of the sport. The teams and drivers will test out these new technical regulations at the 2026 F1 Miami GP during the extended Free Practice session.
Bearman also hopes to build on the strong momentum from before the break and continue to impress on track.
“I’m very excited to come back to racing, it’s been a long break and Miami is a fun track. We have a Sprint weekend which is still a big challenge for us with these new regulations. We’re figuring out new things every session so I’m excited to go and explore the nuances and the challenges of Miami. Hopefully we can continue our good start to the year and everyone will be replenished and ready to push again.”
Ocon on approaching the first warm and humid race weekend of the season
Miami is notoruius for its hot and humid conditions. While the first three races of the 2026 F1 season had teams including Haas focused on finding grip in lower temperatures, the Miami GP will bring its own set of challenges.
Ocon shared that this was the first race of the season in a humid condition and that he was unsure if the VF-26 will be able to perform as well as it has thus far. He added that since it was a Sprint weekend, it would also only make adapting to the new regulations harder. However, the Frenchman is confident in the work he and Haas has done in the simulator ahead of the 2026 F1 Miami GP. Ocon is looking to maximise his potential this weekend and optimise the number of points he earn for the team.
“Miami is probably the first race this year which is going to be very warm and humid, so this is something we haven’t figured out with the new cars yet. Obviously, it’s a Sprint event so quick learning is going to be required. We’ve done a lot of work in the simulator beforehand to try and get the deployment right, but there are things you’ll find out in FP1 if you have a clean session, so that will be the aim. The car has performed quite well in the first couple of events, so we’re looking to have a good weekend and hopefully get some points for the team.”
