Oliver Bearman Excited to Build Haas F1 2026 from Scratch

Formula 1, Sportrik Media - Oliver Bearman has expressed his excitement after being given the opportunity to help develop a Formula 1 car from the ground up for the first time in his career, following what he described as a major breakthrough during the 2026 pre-season shakedown in Barcelona with the Haas F1 Team.

The Ferrari-backed British driver completed 106 laps on the final day of running, adding to the 85 laps logged by team-mate Esteban Ocon, as Haas recovered from reliability issues encountered on Wednesday to finish the first test on a strong note.

For Bearman, the 2026 season represents a significant milestone. It marks the first time he has experienced a major regulation change in the category he is competing in, having previously progressed through spec junior formulas before making his full-time Formula 1 debut during the final year of the previous ground-effect regulations.

Reflecting on his week in Barcelona, Bearman explained that the shakedown delivered a substantial step forward in his understanding of the new Haas car, particularly once the team was able to complete uninterrupted running late in the test.

“We had the issues on Wednesday at the end — they weren’t big problems,” Bearman explained.

“They were all things we could understand, but they just took a while to fix.”

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Bearman stressed that returning to the track on Friday proved decisive, allowing Haas to execute a clean and representative programme that had been difficult to achieve earlier in the week.

“Luckily, we were able to get back in the car on Friday and have a very clean programme, and I learned a hell of a lot about the car,” he said.

“We have so many quality laps now, so the data we have is much better compared to Wednesday, which was very interrupted and not very high in quality.”

With a more complete dataset available, Bearman said he has begun to form clear impressions of the car’s characteristics, particularly in terms of balance and drivability.

“I’ve got some strong impressions of what I like about the car and what I don’t like about the car, especially in terms of its balance,” he added.

Bearman also highlighted the scale of the 2026 regulation reset, describing it as the biggest change Formula 1 has ever seen. According to him, the magnitude of the shift gives drivers a rare chance to play a meaningful role in shaping development direction from the outset.

“It’s the biggest change in the history of Formula 1,” Bearman said.

“It’s nice to be involved in that, and to be at the front of it alongside Esteban, leading the way in terms of how we’re going to develop the car and how we’re going to change things.”

The experience stands in stark contrast to Bearman’s earlier career, where technical freedom was limited by the nature of spec series and stable regulations.

“I’ve never had that opportunity before,” he continued.

“I came from spec series in F4, F3 and then F2, and last year in Formula 1 it was essentially a carryover of previous seasons because there was no regulation change.”

Bearman believes the 2026 reset has injected fresh energy into the driver’s role within the team, as feedback and driving impressions now carry greater weight in guiding development choices.

“This big change is fantastic, and I really feel that, as drivers, we can get stuck in and make a difference,” he concluded.

From Haas’ perspective, the progress made by Bearman and Ocon in Barcelona provides a valuable foundation ahead of the next phase of pre-season testing. With the new regulations still offering a wide scope for interpretation, the quality of driver feedback is expected to be a key factor in shaping the team’s early-season development path.

As preparations continue for the next pre-season test, Haas will now focus on analysing the data gathered in Barcelona, with Bearman playing a central role in helping define the technical direction of the team’s 2026 Formula 1 campaign.