Haas have pulled the covers off their 2026 F1 car livery.

Oliver Bearman is heading into his second full F1 season (Image: Getty)
Oliver Bearman admitted the wait to see what the new balance of power in Formula 1 will look like has been “horrible”. The Brit, 20, enjoyed an impressive rookie season with Haas last year, but has no idea if he will be able to keep pushing for more impressive results in 2026.
Because widespread engine and aero design rule changes are a completely clean slate for all 11 teams including newcomers Cadillac. Bearman is optimistic about the first Haas car of F1’s new era, the VF-26 unveiled yesterday, but faces a nervy wait alongside team-mate Esteban Ocon to discover what the new season will hold.

He said: “It’s impossible to gauge where we’re going to be right now. Everything I’m seeing from the team is positive, but we don’t know how we stack up, and we won’t know until qualifying in Australia. Even then, I feel like in the first few races reliability is going to be playing a big factor.

“There are going to be teams and people making mistakes with these new regulations. It’s going to be tough to establish a true pecking order. These changes are the biggest in the history of Formula 1, so with that is a huge deal of excitement for me. I’m heading into a regulation change for the first time in my life, really.

Haas pulled the covers off their new livery on Monday (Image: TGR Haas F1 Team)

“Last year was a big step for me, but I think even from the beginning, we knew that if we put the car in the right window, we were still going to be able to fight for points and we had an idea of the competitiveness of the car.

“That lack of knowledge heading into 2026 is good and bad, as on one side I feel like we can really have an impact straight away, but also it’s horrible not knowing. I’d like to skip forward six months to see where we are, but I’m going to be giving it everything to make sure that where we are is as high up as possible.”

Bearman, a Ferrari academy product, is seen as the heir to Lewis Hamilton’s seat, whenever the seven-time world champion steps away. For now, he is focused on learning as much as he can about F1 racing as his Haas apprenticeship continues into a second season.

He said: “It was a year where I certainly learned a lot, not only about myself as a person, or as an athlete, but also about Formula 1. I’ve really increased my knowledge base infinitely, because I’ve been put in experiences that you just can’t learn prior to experiencing them.

“I’ve definitely improved a lot in all of those areas and I’m really happy with how the season went, particularly the second-half. You know, I really upped my game, I felt like in the second half of the season, I started to put down some really some results that I was really happy with and that was critical for me. I’m excited to continue that this year.”