Haas Mid-Season Review: Losing steam and gaining inconsistency
- Meghana Sree
- 1 hour ago
- 4 min read
As we prepare to head into the second half of the 2026 Formula One season after a lengthy summer break, our F1 writers take you through the state of play with each team on the grid. Haas had a strong start to a season with much promise, but quickly stagnated and lost competitiveness despite showing flashes of potential early on. Can they regain momentum after the break to resume scoring consistently?
Haas entered the new era of F1 with stability. A tried and tested driver line-up, an experienced Team Principal, and plenty of promising signs in their car development after a positive 2025 season.
Initially off to a steady start with several points collecting across the opening rounds, from the seventh stop onwards in Canada, Haas has been on a steady downward trajectory this season.
Like for many teams in the mid-field, the 2026 season was meant to be Haas’ chance to step out of the wings and take control of the mid-field battle to become the best of the rest.
While they seemed genuine contenders for this title early on, with both Oliver Bearman and Esteban Ocon scoring top 10 finishes a handful of times, they quickly lost momentum and have now plateaued at mediocrity.
How has Haas fared so far?
The American outfit now occupies seventh in the Constructors’ Championship with 21 points, but this position belies the 40-point gap to Alpine in sixth. Meanwhile, their nearest competitors are Audi nine points behind them and Williams a further point adrift.
Their season began on strong footing, with Bearman taking back-to-back points in Australia and China, and though he retired the following race in Suzuka, Ocon managed to keep the team’s points streak alive with his first point of the season in the Japanese Grand Prix.
Haas’ nascent purple patch was not to be, however, as their momentum quickly petered out and the team have been left scratching their heads over their inconsistency and loss of competitiveness ever since.
The team has also been seeing some tension brew on track between teammates Bearman and Ocon, with the two making crossing wires on several occasions, notably during the Monaco Grand Prix when opening lap contact between the two ultimately led Bearman to retire after carrying damage for much of the race.
With their best race finish coming in with fifth at the Chinese Grand Prix and their only sprint point scored with eighth at the same round, Haas’ lofty goals for this season seem unattainable for the time being given their patchy form.
Left in somewhat of a no man’s land and remaining anonymous during recent race weekends unless in the event of an incident, Haas has a serious uphill climb ahead of them in this first season of the new regulatory era.
Drivers’ Head-to-Head Performance
Bearman, in only his sophomore F1 season, leads Ocon by a landslide in both the qualifying and race head-to-head matchups.
The Briton leads by 8-3, while Ocon has been struggling to have the measure of his less experienced teammate. Bearman’s best qualifying result came at the Chinese Grand Prix, where he converted a 10th-place start to a fifth-place finish. Meanwhile, Ocon is yet to reach Q3 this season, with his best qualifying result being 12th in Japan which he improved on to round out the top 10 in the race.
In the race trim as well, Bearman has the upperhand. Leading Ocon by 7-4, Bearman has scored the bulk of Haas’ points this season, as Ocon has contributed only three points to the team’s sum of 21.
Best Moment
The Chinese Grand Prix is undoubtedly the singular highlight of Haas’ rather pedestrian season so far.
Being a sprint weekend, the Bearman capitalised on the points available to score in both the sprint and the main race.
Qualifying seventh for the sprint, Bearman managed to get ahead after staying out during a late Safety Car and score for the second time this season. His third time came the following day during the main event, impressively climbing up to fifth in the Grand Prix after qualifying 10th — till date the team’s only top five finish and Q3 appearance this season.
The Briton’s excellent performance in China distracted from Ocon’s disappointing Grand Prix, as he made contact with Franco Colapinto that sent them both spinning and well out of points contention.
Worst Moment
There are plenty to pick from, but the one that stands out is Bearman’s scary 50G crash in Suzuka.
The high-speed crash came during the race when Bearman had to take avoiding action in response to the large closing speeds to Colapinto’s Alpine up front. Bearman took to the grass on the entry to the Spoon Curve, slamming into the barriers and shattering the car.
Fortunately, the 20-year-old was cleared from the Medical Centre after being seen limping out of the car.
Looking Ahead
In Hungary, the last race before this summer break, Haas scored their worst team finish of the season so far when both drivers complete the race with 19th for Bearman and 16th for Ocon.
If anything, this result before the break indicated the downward slope the team is on, and also acts as a motivation for Haas to perform better. Upgrades will benefit their situation massively, a game they’re currently behind on as other teams have been bringing consistent tweaks to their cars while Haas has stagnated.
The drivers and team strategy will also have to step up, as over the past few weekends, both Bearman and Ocon have been lacking competitiveness — and while the car is largely to blame, knowing how to capitalise on chaos during the race is a great opportunity to collect more points.
The second half of the season will be all about building confidence for the American outfit as they attempt to get back on track and prevent themselves from slipping further than they already have down the standings.
Haas’ inconsistency really shows how quickly an F1 team can lose momentum mid-season. For fans who enjoy structured problem-solving and strategy challenges, a Block Blast strategy solver is another fun way to put that mindset to work
Haas’ season really shows how quickly early momentum can disappear in F1. The gap to Alpine makes seventh place look less comfortable, while Audi and Williams remain close enough to keep the midfield battle interesting. It’ll be interesting to see whether Haas can turn those flashes of pace into consistent points after the break. That same idea of changing performance and demand matters in trading games too Blox Fruits values can help players keep track of shifting item demand before making a trade.