Oliver Bearman has insisted that Ferrari's updated power unit used at the Italian Grand Prix did not provide a significant performance gain. Despite that, the young British driver acknowledged the step still offers some benefit for the Haas team.
Ferrari introduced its second and final power unit upgrade of the 2026 season through the Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities (ADUO) system, with one such engine handed to Haas for the Monza weekend, fitted to Bearman's car. This is part of the Italian manufacturer's efforts to keep developing amid strict technical regulations.
Bearman managed to qualify 12th, his best result since the Chinese Grand Prix in March. However, in the race, he briefly held eighth place in the opening laps before slipping back to 15th. The American squad thus endured a seventh consecutive pointless round, matching its worst streak since 2021.
Commenting on the new engine's performance, Bearman said the step was much smaller than the aerodynamic upgrade they brought for the same race. "It's a much smaller step than what the aero upgrade was," he said. "Of course, there's a bit more on this track, but in terms of a season average, it wouldn't have been enough to get us out of the fight for Q1, to be honest. I don't think it was a game changer."
Bearman added that the new engine is still beneficial, but not a major leap. "More power is always nice, but you've read the news about how much it is. It's definitely beneficial, but the biggest step was the aero upgrade, which was more than twice or three times the amount of power we got from the engine," he explained. "That's testament to the team's hard work, and I'm really, really proud of them for that."
Haas's upgrade for Monza featured a revised floor and bodywork on the sidepods and engine cover. While teammate Esteban Ocon did not get the new engine, he did benefit from the latest aero parts, yet still ended up seven tenths slower than Bearman in Q2. However, Bearman pointed out that the gap is not purely down to the engine, as Ocon continues to struggle with the VF-26's aero inconsistency.
Ocon himself admitted that the inconsistency issue had not improved compared to practice. "No, it wasn't, unfortunately," said Ocon. "We tried everything we could, taking all the bits in the garage to put it on the car. We did everything we could, but it wasn't enough."
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