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Japanese Grand Prix: Race team notes - Haas

NEWS STORY
29/03/2026

TGR Haas F1 Team finished with Esteban Ocon 10th, while Ollie Bearman retired, at the Japanese Grand Prix, held Sunday at the Suzuka Circuit.

Ocon started from 12th place on Pirelli P Zero Yellow medium tires and picked up a spot through the opening lap, before slotting into the top 10 at the expense of Red Bull's Isack Hadjar. Ocon then passed Racing Bulls' Arvid Lindblad on lap six for ninth place, before pitting on lap 19 for White hard tires. Ocon missed out on track position due to the timing of a subsequent safety car phase, allowing rivals to pit at reduced racing speed, and re-emerged P11. Ocon overhauled Audi's Gabriel Bortoleto to return to the top 10 and gave chase to Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson, eventually taking the checkered flag in tenth. Ocon's result ensured TGR Haas F1 Team has finished in the points at each race so far in 2026.

Bearman took the start from 18th position on medium tires and moved up two places on the opening lap to hold P16, before battling against Bortoleto to move into P15. Bearman pitted on lap 16, taking on hard tires, and re-emerged behind Alpine's Franco Colapinto. Bearman chased Colapinto but had to take avoiding action due to the extreme closing speeds between the two cars approaching Spoon curve, and spun into the barriers at high speed. Bearman suffered a 50G impact, and after extricating himself from the wreckage, underwent an X-ray in the medical center. Bearman suffered a right knee contusion following the impact but was cleared of any further injuries, and was swiftly released by the medical crew.

TGR Haas F1 Team maintains fourth position in the Constructors' Championship on 18 points.

Ollie Bearman: "First of all, everything is fine and I'm good. It was a scary moment out there, but everything is okay, which is the main thing. The adrenaline is wearing off a bit, so it's going to be a long trip home, but I'm absolutely fine. The car is a bit worse for wear, but we now have a month to reset, but I can only apologize to the team because it's a lot of work. There was a massive overspeed - around 50kph - which is a part of these new regulations, and we have to get used to it, but also I felt like I wasn't given much space, given the huge excess speed I was carrying. We need to be a bit more lenient and a bit more prepared, as unfortunately this was the result of a massive delta speed which we've not seen in Formula 1 before. We have a month to reset and come back strong in Miami - that's the goal now."

Esteban Ocon: "First of all, I'm glad that Ollie is okay. Unfortunately, though, it has been three out of three races where the safety car timing has been bad for us. We had a decent start and it was going okay, then we lost to Gabi and Liam. I managed to overtake Gabi on track, but with Liam it wasn't possible. There was a nice fight between Max and Pierre ahead, so I would've liked to have been part of that, however, I got stuck behind Liam, so we'll never know if I could've been a part of it or not. Overall, it was a positive weekend on our side and we got the maximum out of the car in every situation. It could've been a few positions better, but we can't control everything."

Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal: "First and foremost, it's good that Ollie is okay. It was a big shunt and Ollie is really gutted about it. The closing speed was huge, it was close to 50kph, and it was a pretty scary moment, but I'm glad that he came out okay. Race-wise, we had a good start. Our pace wasn't as strong, but I think in the opening laps we made some good places and Esteban raced very strongly. It's a shame that the safety car happened at the wrong time for Esteban as we lost two positions, but he was able to gain one back, he just couldn't overtake Lawson, which is a shame. I think there's a lot that we can take from this race. It's good that in these brand new regulations, as the smallest team, we've scored a point in every single race, which is really positive. We are still P4 in the championship, which is amazing, with 18 points. The competition is really tough from P4 to P7, there are only four points in it, so I think we need to maximize this time in April to look at all the things we've learned until now to try to refine our operations, refine the car, and understand how we can perform better every single time we go out. I'm really keen to hit the ground running in Miami. Well done to everyone so far, let's use this time to refresh and refocus."

Check out our Sunday gallery from Suzuka here.

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