Bearman believes Haas has little more to extract from the VF-26

Oliver Bearman believes Haas has little more performance to extract from its 2026 car. The VF-26 feels well balanced to him, but lacks the downforce to keep pace with its rivals.

The contrast was clear in Bearman’s results at the United States Grand Prix: he was 11th and 10th in the first two free practices, then qualified 16th. He said Haas had found a near-ideal set-up as early as FP1, while rival teams continued to make gains.

Bearman also pointed to development. Haas’s latest substantial upgrade package dated to the Italian Grand Prix, nearly two months earlier. Since then, the only new part was a rear impact structure specific to Sepang. Rivals brought further upgrades to Austin, Bearman said, estimating that they had introduced three or four times as many as Haas.

He said the VF-26 lost competitiveness as a qualifying lap progressed because it wore its tyres too heavily to sustain its pace.

Team-mate Esteban Ocon described a less predictable experience of the car. In qualifying, he said, he had to anticipate braking 10–15 metres earlier and still encountered locking and understeer. Ocon called the feeling unpredictable; Haas had brought the issue somewhat under control during the weekend, he said, but the underlying problem remained. He finished the US GP 14th, 34 seconds outside the points.

Bearman said the car’s characteristics had improved markedly compared with three or four events earlier. He still saw insufficient downforce as the limit on what Haas could extract from it.