Bearman Labels Haas's Lack of Speed "Painful" After British Grand Prix

Oliver BearmanPlayer·Oliver Bearman, the British driver for Haas, has openly voiced his disappointment with the team's performance at the recent British Grand PrixCompetition·British Grand Prix, labeling their car's lack of pace as "painful." His comments follow a challenging weekend at SilverstoneVenue·Silverstone, where he finished 12th, further highlighting the team's struggles to maintain competitiveness in the 2025/26 Formula 1Competition·Formula 1 season.

The race itself presented an immediate hurdle for Bearman. On the opening lap, he was involved in an incident with Alex AlbonPlayer·Alex Albon, which saw his car spun around. Albon subsequently received a ten-second penalty for the collision. Despite the setback, Bearman managed to recover some positions, but the underlying issue of speed remained.

"We've been having some issues of getting consistency on the starts. Yesterday was a good start, today was terrible again and I just went backwards and that put us in a position to get spun around into Brooklands," Bearman stated, reflecting on the race. He continued, "After that I was running at the back and then after that, we were just slow, we were not quick enough to overtake. Struggled a lot in the dirty air and then I managed to have a bit of clean air and show some good pace, but still, not quick enough. It's painful." His teammate, Esteban Ocon, finished just one position behind in 13th, echoing the sentiment that while the car handled normally and tires showed no serious degradation, more speed is essential for scoring points.

This recent performance marks a notable shift from the start of the 2026 season, where Bearman secured points in the first two races, finishing 7th in Australia and 5th in China. However, since those early successes, Haas has found it difficult to keep pace with rivals. Bearman has only added a single point to his tally with a 10th-place finish in Canada, and he previously described the Austrian Grand PrixCompetition·Austrian Grand Prix, where he finished 14th, as a "punch in the face" due to the car's relative lack of speed even when optimized.

As of July 2, 2026, Oliver BearmanPlayer·Oliver Bearman holds 11th position in the Drivers' Championship with 18 points. Haas currently sits 7th in the Constructors' Championship with 21 points, trailing teams such as Racing BullsTeam·Racing Bulls and AlpineTeam·Alpine. Bearman attributes this decline to competitors like AlpineTeam·Alpine and Racing BullsTeam·Racing Bulls introducing more effective upgrades, while Haas has brought only one significant upgrade since the season began. Looking ahead, Bearman does not anticipate major upgrades for the Haas VF-26 before the summer break in August, suggesting that the upcoming races in Belgium and Hungary will present further challenges for the team.