Haas F1 Shows Up as Ferrari’s Sister Team During Testing
With the first day of the second round of preseason testing done, no team has shocked the audience in a good way more than Haas. Always seen as a close collaborator with Ferrari and a development team more than anything, that title is now upgraded to a real sister team. From a middling eighth-place finish in the constructors' championship in 2025, they have rallied during testing and are looking refreshed and inspired for their 2026 run. While not yet a contender for the championship, they have a fight in them that has not been seen in recent memory.
Haas has had an interesting history in Formula 1. They were always noted as being a sister team to Ferrari, sharing parts and testing data to help both teams, but it never panned out for Haas. They were assigned to the development team, still collaborating with Ferrari, but never able to put that information to work. That all changed this year with the pre-season testing. With a total of 390 laps in the first test, putting them in fourth place lapwise, they have impressed the paddock, placing themselves in the top four on the first two days, maintaining their mid-field placement for the rest of testing. Team principal Ayao Komatsu praised the Ferrari power unit, as well as their energy management system. Ferrari's new engineer is making waves before the season even started, and is a boon for Ferrari’s sales. Komatsu is looking forward to the remainder of the second batch of testing to further evolve their car for the first race of the season. Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman are both saying that even though the car is noticeably different from the first round of testing, they feel better driving it.
Haas has a clear direction as to how to improve the car, and their collaboration with Ferrari will allow both teams to maintain their performance and reliability this year. Overall, with Haas having an impressive preseason testing and taking advantage of Ferrari's new drivetrain, they have a believable chance of not simply being a backmarker team. Instead, they now appear capable of rivaling other development teams. That being said, every team on the paddock this year has the chance to reshape and change what team they want to be.
