Haas left the qualifying session for the Monaco Formula 1 GP with the feeling that they had wasted a great opportunity. The team believes they had enough pace to comfortably advance to Q2 and even contend for a spot in Q3, but saw their plans compromised by a red flag at the end of Q1.
Read more F1: Verstappen and Hamilton give ‘unusual’ advice for Antonelli to start in Monaco
Oliver Bearman was one of the most frustrated after finishing the session only in 19th position. The Brit highlighted the team’s effort to recover his car after the problems in FP3 and stated that he had enough performance to easily advance to the next phase of the session.
“The mechanics worked tirelessly to reassemble the car after FP3, and it was very good. I should have been able to be up there,” he stated. According to Bearman, his fast lap had the potential to comfortably place him in Q2 before the session was interrupted. “I was unlucky. I was on a lap that would have easily put me in Q2 when the red flag came out.”
After the session restarted, Bearman explained that he couldn’t get the tires to the ideal temperature: “We were stopped for about two minutes in the queue and, when I got back on track, I had no grip at all. The car was sliding everywhere. I was on the limit, giving it my all, but there simply wasn’t any grip. I’m very disappointed,” he said.
Esteban Ocon shared the same assessment after finishing 17th. The Frenchman believes the car had the potential to advance not only to Q2, but also to fight for a position in Q3: “The car was good enough to go further. The track was also improving for us, but once again, we were unlucky,” he stated.
Read more F1: Check out the images from this Saturday of the Monaco GP 2026
Ocon reported that he encountered traffic during his fast attempt before the red flag, and that the remaining time after the interruption did not allow for proper tire warming: “I lost about two tenths with traffic on the fast lap, then the red flag came out. We didn’t have enough time to warm up the tires and couldn’t improve. It’s as simple as that,” he explained.
Ayao Komatsu, the team principal, described the result as difficult to accept. The manager believes that Haas had the speed to put at least one car in Q3 and regretted the lost opportunity on a circuit where the qualifying session usually determines a large part of the final result: “It’s a wasted opportunity, and since we are in Monaco, where qualifying is everything, this is very difficult to accept,” he added.
Even with the disappointment, Komatsu highlighted the progress made by the team between Friday and Saturday, and praised the work of the drivers and mechanics. At the same time, he acknowledged that the car still has a very narrow operating window: “With each race we are learning, but we need to turn these lessons into evolution. Right now it seems like everything is on the limit and we can’t catch a break,” he concluded.
Read more F1: Wolff explains Russell’s understated performance in Monaco
