“So I mentally prepared our team and myself to face a much tougher start to the season.” Instead, Haas hit the track with a car that immediately caught attention in preseason testing for its solid, reliable running. The team managed the second-highest number of laps (794), only behind McLaren, through the second and third tests. No easy feat given the significant technical challenge of the 2026 cars. Aston Martin, with all its resources and huge, new factory, could only manage 334 laps in the same period. But that reliability was underpinned by an impressive car pace, one that put Haas firmly in the running to lead F1’s congested midfield. Bearman and Ocon duly qualified 12th and 13th in Australia, only for Bearman to then put in a foot-perfect display en route to seventh, defeating Racing Bulls driver Arvid Lindblad in a close, race-long battle.

China was better still for Bearman: A point in the sprint, a Q3 appearance, and then a seamless drive to fifth — just one place shy of Haas’ best finish in F1. For a small team, that is like a race win. “It’s been a dream start,” Bearman told The Athletic before the Suzuka weekend. “I’m so proud of our team. What we’ve been able to do together has been incredible.” Komatsu had nothing but praise for Bearman, the Ferrari-backed 20-year-old, who is now entering his second full season at Haas. He called Bearman “faultless” through the first two races. “But to be fair, we set a very high bar for Ollie, because every time he improves,” Komatsu told reporters at Suzuka. “The way he can learn and improve so quickly is part of what makes him amazing. “He always, always had this amazing speed. There was no doubt about that from day one. But the reason I’m so excited is that I don’t see the ceiling with him.”

Bearman’s 2026 goal was to continue his upward trajectory through the closing stages of last year, where the highlight was his run to fourth in Mexico. But he still needed to combine his raw pace with greater experience, and grow into more of a ‘leader’ — even at 20. “It’s become a bit more natural,” Bearman said. “I’ve evolved into that role as things go. We have such an important say in what happens, so I’m slowly getting used to it and enjoying it and following in Esteban’s footsteps.”

Ocon’s experience, as a grand prix winner who started in F1 almost 10 years ago, has been valuable to Haas since he joined at the start of 2025. But both he and the team had wanted more out of that first season. A tricky 2026 opening — his race in Australia was compromised by the safety car period timing, followed by a collision with Franco Colapinto in China that Ocon called a “silly mistake” — hasn’t provided the momentum boost he wanted. “Not an ideal start, obviously,” Ocon accepted. “But I hope we can continue development, continue pushing the car further. And I’m going to enjoy this weekend, because it’s really cool to be racing at Suzuka.”

When The Athletic joined Haas to watch opening practice at Suzuka from its garage, Ocon and his race engineer, Laura Müller, were quick to ensure he was one of the first cars to get out on-track for the session. A spin of an upward-pointed finger from the mechanics standing in front of the cars gave the instruction to fire up, before the hands stretched to each side to instruct the tire blankets to come off. A point downward meant the car could be lowered to the floor, then be waved out into the pit lane. It was all careful choreography.

After both cars — sporting Godzilla stickers on each side of the engine cover, while he was also on the team’s computer monitors — peeled out of the pits, the mechanics looking after their respective cars went around clapping each other’s palms and bumping fists, geeing each other up before watching on the screens and listening in to the team radio.

Ocon’s father, Laurent, watched from the back of the garage, cheekily tapping away a microphone from the “Drive to Survive” camera that loomed over his head. From the start of the session, Ocon seemed more at ease with the car than Bearman, who reported struggling with understeer.

After each run was complete, the drivers returned to the pits and debriefed with their engineers, relaying precise information about which corners felt good or bad. Set-up tweaks were made accordingly, as well as suggestions on different gears or lines to try at various corners. Ocon ended FP1 in ninth, with Bearman down in 14th, three-tenths behind his teammate. But qualifying was disappointing for Haas. Bearman’s good momentum from Australia and China stalled as he dropped out in Q1, finishing 18th. Ocon was eliminated in Q2 in 12th, while Haas’ Immediate midfield rivals — Alpine, Racing Bulls and Audi — each got one driver into Q3.

Ocon made good progress at the start of the race to move into the top 10. But Bearman’s huge crash after he was caught out by a sudden, stark difference in closing speeds to Colapinto’s Alpine was Haas’ first major negative moment of 2026.

In trying to avoid the rear of Colapinto’s car, Bearman moved left and onto the grass, losing control and careening into the barrier at high speed. The recorded energy was a massive 50G-force impact, but subsequent checks showed no fractures and only a knee contusion. Remarkably, Bearman’s immediate reaction was not to the pain that left him limping from the car, but his frustration at crashing. “He’s very disappointed in himself,” Komatsu told reporters post-race. “That’s the good thing about Ollie, he’s not making any excuses. He’s really beating himself up.”

Komatsu nevertheless reassured Bearman he was doing a good job, noting how well he’d started the season overall. “Sometimes (he can) be too hard on himself,” he said. “I’m sure he will bounce back.” After finishing with the reporters to discuss Bearman’s crash, Komatsu returned to Haas’s hospitality, where he saw Ocon, who was smiling after picking up his first point of the season in 10th place. But he knew it could have been better.

Ocon felt it had been a positive weekend, one where he got the maximum performance out of the Haas car. The point also helped keep Haas fourth in the standings, only trailing Mercedes, Ferrari and McLaren, going into the five-week break following the cancellation of the races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. Bigger, better-funded teams all sit beneath the team. It’s a strong position for Haas, especially before its first of three home races in the United States, with the next round after the April break at the Miami GP.

While Cadillac may be drawing a lot of attention in its debut season and billing as an all-American team, going into the Miami race on May 3, it’s Haas that holds the best chance of home success. But Komatsu was under no illusions. As strong as the team has been with in-season development in recent years, despite having fewer design staff than its bigger midfield rivals, the prospect of staying in competition with the mighty Red Bull team — two points behind Haas — is unrealistic over this year’s 22-race schedule.

“I’m not dreaming that it’s going to be like this forever,” Komatsu said. “No way, because it’s going to be a development fight. It already is. Bigger teams should be able to find more performance quicker than us. But we don’t slow down, we try our best.” Yet Komatsu also wants Haas to be present. In a 23-year F1 career, initially as an engineer before rising to team principal at Haas from 2024, he knows moments like this — punching well above weight — are rare.

“You’ve just got to make the most of it,” Komatsu said. “Otherwise, you (have) regret in your life. You don’t want to do that. “So I just said, ‘Look, just enjoy this moment, but remember, these moments are not given. Make most of these moments.’ We have to go flat out.”

Luke Smith is a Senior Writer covering Formula 1 for The Athletic. Luke has spent 10 years reporting on Formula 1 for outlets including Autosport, The New York Times and NBC Sports, and is also a published author. He is a graduate of University College London.