Haas and Oliver Bearman claimed they have “big motivation” ahead of the Mexico City Grand Prix. The American based team arrives with an upgraded car following the introduction of a new floor in Austin.
The impact of the Austin upgrades
It is very unusual to see teams continue to bring upgrades this late in the season but Haas is one of the teams that continues to develop their VF-25.
The team opted to bring a new floor to Austin on what was also a sprint weekend.
“It’s definitely tough to introduce an upgrade package on a Sprint weekend,” admitted Bearman in an interview with Formula 1. “But, it worked out and we scored (points), which was really the main goal.”
With reduced sessions to test the floor Haas ventured into the unknown in Austin yet, with Bearman finishing ninth in the race, the gamble ultimately paid off.
“Now, we have more sessions to try things,” explained Bearman ahead of the Mexico City race weekend.
“We are pretty stuck with what we can try in a Sprint weekend format, so now, we have many opportunities to try and see what we can do. But overall, we have experienced the benefit that we expected.”
Hopes ahead of Mexico
Despite being two super licence points away from a race ban, Bearman was upbeat ahead of the weekend with the track holding some special memories for the British driver.
I’m looking forward to being here in Mexico,” said Bearman to Formula 1. “It’s a place that is very special to me, because I did my first-ever FP1 appearance here two years ago with Haas.”
“We’re coming in off the back of two really strong weekends. Singapore was positive, Austin was bittersweet- we scored points but there was more out there. But, it gives us more hunger coming into this weekend.”
The battle between Haas and Sauber continues to intensify. Haas remain 11 points adrift of the German team with just five rounds left.
Bearman though, continues to be on the back foot compared to his teammate. The British driver sits eight points behind his teammate, Esteban Ocon, who sits fifteenth, equal on points with Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda.
Featured Image courtesy of Haas Media team