Oliver Bearman says Haas good in race trim, need to work on qualifying

Haas were fighting with the likes of Red Bull in Shanghai as Bearman went on to finish fifth in the race despite an incident at the start of the race where he almost collected a spinning Isack Hadjar.

The Briton also scored one point in the Sprint Race by finishing eighth, while in Melbourne, he finished seventh in the season-opening race, scoring six points for Haas despite qualifying in 12th.

Bearman is quite happy with his 2026 Haas single-seater, the VF-26, but highlighted that improvement was needed in qualifying while also pointing out that Alpine are the team Haas need to watch out for.

"I think we're quicker in race trim at the moment," the Haas driver said. "It seems to be the case. Qualifying has been a bit more challenging.

"I would say that Pierre [Gasly] had been incredibly fast [in China]. Even in the race, you know, the last 10 laps, he was coming at me incredibly quickly.

"There's still a lot of work to do before the next race," Bearman warned ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix. "We need to optimize a few things.

"But I'm really happy with the balance of the car, the feeling of the car. So, it's a great baseline. We need to keep working on it," he concluded.

Haas are currently running Ferrari power units known for their small turbo that allows them to launch fast off the line while not quite delivering peak power like the Mercedes power unit, which Alpine use.

The American team is currently fourth in the 2026 F1 Constructors' Championship with 17 points, which have all been scored by Bearman, who himself is fifth in the 2026 F1 Drivers' Championship. (Reporting by Agnes Carlier)