'Fighting with one hand behind our backs' - Bearman frustrated over Haas struggles
Ollie Bearman's performances have been limited by the ongoing struggles of his Haas team.
Ollie Bearman has complained of feeling that Haas is fighting 'with our hands tied behind our backs' as the team has been increasingly pushed down the pecking order as the Formula 1 season has progressed.
Haas began the season in fine form, and was one of the standout performers in the midfield, with points being scored across five of the first six weekends, including a season-high fifth place for Bearman in China.
However, Haas is believed to be the team with the smallest budget on the grid, and is potentially the only outfit operating at a level below the cost cap, something that significantly slows the rate of development, and lessens the number of upgrades that can be brought to the track across a campaign.
On top of this, when Haas has produced upgrades, there has been a lack of consistency across parts, with Bearman and team-mate Esteban Ocon experiencing different feelings from the new parts.
"It’s a tough situation that is happening at our team," conceded Bearman. "We’ve been speaking about it a lot, but the inconsistency between our parts has been quite high.
"I’ve been on the bad side of that and I’ve also been on the good side of that, but it’s a shame because it means that you’re always chasing a moving target."
"Overnight, we can have changes to our car balance without expecting that. All of that is to say that it’s not always a fair fight, the one that we are having, and sometimes we feel like we’re fighting with our hands almost tied behind our backs."
Despite the struggles, Bearman has been praised for his performances, even if points have been lacking since that opening phase of the year.
He added: "Of course, I feel like I’m performing at a really high level, and I really see a step in my performances from 12 months ago, even from the start of the season. That’s all I can do.
"At this stage, we’re not in the fight for points. We’re not in the fight to do a whole lot other than try to get the most out of ourselves and learn as much as possible in this difficult period, hoping that soon we’re going to have the performance to put that to work and score points. It’s been a challenge for us. I’m happy with what I’m doing, but the story is not necessarily what you see in the headline."
Sam joined Crash.net in February 2026 with extensive experience in motorsport media, having covered numerous championships around the world.
