Haas Formula 1 driver Oliver Bearman has described the Chinese Grand Prix sprint race as "optimistic" as teams adjust to the sport's new 2026 regulations. The event, scheduled as the second round of the season, will provide only one practice session for preparation. Haas team chief Ayao Komatsu agreed, labeling it a "huge challenge" for all teams.
During pre-season testing in Bahrain, Haas driver Oliver Bearman expressed concerns about the demands of the upcoming sprint race weekend at the Chinese Grand Prix. As the second round of the 2026 Formula 1 season, it will be the first sprint event of the year under the overhauled regulations, limiting teams to a single hour of practice before sprint qualifying.
Bearman highlighted the added pressure this places on the season opener in Australia. "Exactly. That's everyone's fear, I think, heading into the start of the year. I think a Sprint weekend in Round 2 of such a massive regulation overhaul is a bit optimistic, but we'll see what we come up with," he told media in Bahrain. He emphasized the need for strong performance from the outset: "Even more important to make sure that we're on the ball already from Australia at the beginning, and so that we can put those learnings into practice, and certainly the simulator will be critical to make sure that we're on it from the get-go in China, otherwise the gaps are going to be huge in sprint qualifying."
Preparation opportunities include a shakedown in Barcelona from January 26-30 and two three-day testing blocks in Bahrain. Haas team chief Ayao Komatsu shared similar apprehensions. "Oh, that's going to be a huge challenge, man," he said. "Yeah, Shanghai, I'm not looking forward to that, I can't say I'm looking forward to that. One hour practice, get ready for sprint quali, that's going to be a huge challenge."
Komatsu noted the progressive learning curve: "It's the same for everyone, but it's step by step. So like I said, I think we had decent preparation, learning things, then now we've got to compress everything, refine the procedures, accuracy of everything, to get prepared for the normal race weekend. We do one normal race weekend in Melbourne, hopefully it's dry, then going to Shanghai, it's sprint weekend, so it's a steep learning curve, but same for everyone."
The comments came amid Bahrain testing, with additional reporting by Jake Boxall-Legge.
