The state of play at Haas after three rounds of the 2026 season

Haas have enjoyed a strong start to the 2026 season, with Ollie Bearman finishing well in both the opening two races and getting rave reviews along the way. As such, the American outfit find themselves in the lofty heights of fourth place in the standings. With Esteban Ocon starting to find his feet too, there are plenty of signs that Haas could be in line to top the midfield at the end of the season…

How has the 2026 season gone so far?

Really rather well all things considered. Haas brought upgrades very late into the year in 2025 and, as such, could easily have found themselves on the back foot this season given the decision to keep developing the VF-25.

Instead, they started strongly in pre-season testing, completing nearly 800 laps – the second most of any team. Reliability with the Ferrari power unit looked good, and the team were able to really delve into the data for the opening race weekend and already had a decent idea on ideal set-ups.

Bearman has really kicked on in his second full season with the team, turning a P12 grid slot into seventh place in Melbourne, before going even better with a fifth in Shanghai. He also scored in the Sprint too, and sits seventh in the Drivers’ Championship.

The youngster also made SQ3 and Q3 in China, so is delivering over one lap. Ocon has been a fraction behind in Qualifying, but has made Q2 at every race so far and is knocking on the door of the top 10.

Ocon did score last time out in Japan though, a P10 finish getting his campaign up and running. It was just as well for the team he did, as Bearman crashed out from the race.

Fortunately, the Haas man was okay and will no doubt be ready and raring to go in Miami – one of three home races for the team.

Reasons to be hopeful

The VF-26 looks quick over one lap, which will be important at tracks like Monaco, where overtaking is likely to remain tricky at best. It also looks pretty strong in race trim, and is certainly in the thick of the action in that midfield pack with Alpine, Racing Bulls and Audi.

Bearman is showing why he is so highly rated with some strong drives, and looks to be the real deal. He has settled in completely with the team, has a good relationship with Team Principal Ayao Komatsu, and is carrying plenty of confidence into each weekend.

Ocon is also showing signs of delivering after being over-shadowed by his team mate at the first two race weekends. If he can keep out of trouble, he should start delivering points more regularly.

Reasons to be cautious

Haas are running the Ferrari power unit – which is quick off the line, and seems reliable. But they will have to watch out for their midfield rivals, all of whom are running a different engine. Audi have their own power unit, Alpine are running a Mercedes PU and Racing Bulls have the Red Bull Ford Powertrains engine in their car.

If any of those start to out-develop Ferrari, Haas could find themselves up against it to score.

It seems unlikely Bearman’s confidence will be knocked by his big crash at Suzuka, but Komatsu will want to keep an eye on his young charge just to make sure that moment does not have any lasting effects on the British driver.

Komatsu will also have to balance the books, as Bearman’s crash damaged a lot of parts – all of which will influence the cost cap, and any more big crashes could start to impact the team’s ability to stick to their upgrade programme.

What have the drivers and team bosses said?

Ocon called Japan “a positive weekend,” even though he was caught out by the Safety Car and possibly lost some positions as a result.

Bearman simply looked to the future, stating that Haas “have a month to reset and come back strong.”

“It’s good that in these brand new regulations, as the smallest team, we’ve scored a point in every single race, which is really positive,” added Komatsu.

“We are still P4 in the championship, which is amazing, with 18 points. The competition is really tough from P4 to P7, there are only four points in it, so I think we need to maximise this time in April to look at all the things we’ve learned until now to try to refine our operations, refine the car, and understand how we can perform better every single time we go out.

“I’m really keen to hit the ground running in Miami.”

What do Haas need to work on going forwards?

Like everyone, Haas need to focus on their development packages – the whole field are expected to bring parts to Miami, which could shake up the order. With it being a Sprint weekend too, there will not be much time to test out the new components.

They could do with helping Ocon improve his one-lap pace too, to regularly have two cars fighting to qualify in the top 10. If he can manage that, it could help the Frenchman keep out of a little trouble during the races.

And finally, with that Ferrari power unit, both drivers should be making up places at the start – which they have done at times, but not as consistently as Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc. So, understanding how to achieve that would also be a boon for Haas.