Haas F1’s hidden struggles surface in Australia, with dismal qualifying results. Ocon and Bearman endure chaos, hoping rain changes their fate.
Haas F1’s true pace is no longer a mystery. After keeping a low profile during winter testing in Bahrain by running heavy fuel loads, the Australian Grand Prix qualifying session exposed a harsh reality—the VF-25 simply isn’t competitive.
Esteban Ocon was the only driver to experience a relatively smooth weekend in terms of track time, but his qualifying result was far from ideal, as he ended up at the bottom of the timesheets in Q1.
“It’s been a tough weekend so far. Our performance compared to Bahrain testing is a big surprise. It’s been difficult and, honestly, a bit unexpected based on what we anticipated.”
“Historically, this track has been a challenge for the team, but we didn’t expect to be this far off. We’ve made some progress in the right direction, but it’s still tough. We improved in every session, which is encouraging, but we clearly need more.”
“We’re all disappointed, but there’s a chance with the rain tomorrow. We’ll try to make up some positions. We couldn’t run all the setups we wanted, which made things even harder, but given the circumstances, we did our best.”
For Ollie Bearman, it was nothing short of a nightmare. Two off-track excursions, a technical issue before qualifying—it was a disastrous weekend for the young Brit, who barely got any running time.
“It’s frustrating not to have completed a single lap in qualifying. The weekend has been chaotic so far. I think tomorrow will be interesting, and then we can move on. The team has been struggling, and with me not getting any track time, it’s been tough to analyze things properly. We were essentially running only one car, which didn’t help. I can only apologize to the team for my mistakes.”
Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu didn’t sugarcoat the situation.
“Another tough day, following yesterday’s performance struggles. We worked hard to improve the car, and we did make some progress, but ultimately, it wasn’t enough.”
“We’re lacking a lot of downforce in high-speed corners, something we didn’t fully see in Bahrain testing. But this is the reality now, and we need to find a solution quickly.”
“Rain could help us tomorrow—if it’s a dry race, we simply don’t have the pace. Given what we understand about the problem, wet conditions might work in our favor. But either way, we’ll give it everything tomorrow. We won’t give up.”
Can Haas Turn Things Around?
With a disappointing qualifying behind them, Haas is banking on unpredictable weather to shake things up on race day. If rain does arrive, it might be their best chance to salvage something from an otherwise forgettable weekend.
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Haas F1 Exposed: No Pace, No Grip, No Hope? Haas F1 Exposed: No Pace, No Grip, No Hope?
