A disrupted Friday left Haas struggling for answers as red flags and setup tweaks limited key insights into their new floor.
It was a tricky opening day at Suzuka for Haas F1, as the team continues to assess the performance of its new floor. With four red flags disrupting the second free practice session, both Oliver Bearman and Esteban Ocon were left frustrated by a lack of running and limited data.
Bearman Battles, Progress Despite Setbacks
Bearman ended the day 18th fastest in FP2, after a rough start in FP1 where Haas found itself at the bottom of the timesheets. Despite the setbacks, the British rookie remained optimistic.
“FP2 was tough — the session was so broken up we couldn’t get many clean laps in,” Bearman said. “The wind made the track unpredictable, with a lot of gusts and bumps, so it’s not surprising there were issues.”
“I actually felt good in the car, which makes it more frustrating that I couldn’t get a proper lap in to show what we’re capable of. The car felt better this afternoon after some changes — we’re making progress, even if it’s step by step.”
As for the new floor, Bearman noted that while initial impressions are positive, the team hasn’t yet had the chance to fully analyze its impact. “It seems okay so far — no surprises, which is a good thing. We’ll need to go through the data tonight to be sure everything’s working as it should.”
Ocon Frustrated, Floor Shows Promise
Esteban Ocon, who finished just behind Bearman in 19th, echoed the concerns. “It was a difficult session with all the red flags, so we couldn’t follow our full run plan,” said the Frenchman. “It’s a tougher situation here than it was in China. There are some gaps in performance, and we’re testing a few different things across the cars.”
“We’ve tried various setups, and now we need to dig through all the data and decide what works best. I do think we’ve made progress with the floor — it’s moving in the right direction.”
Komatsu Seeks Clarity Amid Chaos
Team principal Ayao Komatsu shed more light on the situation, explaining that the new floor is still under evaluation and that Friday’s sessions were far from ideal for testing.
“In FP1, the car’s balance wasn’t perfect, but we didn’t see the same issues we had in Melbourne,” Komatsu explained. “In FP2, we pushed the setup further — closer to what we tried in Shanghai — and that gave us some useful feedback on the new floor, which is encouraging.”
“The aero team and designers have done a solid job addressing the previous issues. We’ve improved the balance, but with so many red flags, our run plan was heavily impacted.”
Looking ahead, Haas plans to update Ocon’s car with the same floor spec used by Bearman. “Ollie’s setup looked stronger, so we’ll adjust Esteban’s floor to match overnight,” said Komatsu. “We just need to extract a bit more performance.”
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Bearman and Ocon Stifled by Flags in Suzuka Shakedown
Bearman and Ocon Stifled by Flags in Suzuka Shakedown