Haas brings major Monza upgrade after long gap
NXTbets Pro | Published On: September 2, 2026
Haas upgrade push
Haas is bringing a major upgrade package to Monza, its first significant change since the Canadian Grand Prix, as the team tries to end a slide that has left it at the back of the midfield. The team opened the season with points in its first three races, including Oliver Bearman’s fifth-place finish in China, then fell away and has not scored since Esteban Ocon’s ninth place in Monaco. Ayao Komatsu said Monza matters because of Haas’s Maranello design office and because the team needs a strong practice program and more data after a frustrating weekend at Zandvoort. He also made clear the update will not be treated as a quick fix. Komatsu said he does not expect the package to turn Haas into a top-eight contender right away, and the team’s recent results have left it chasing a return to the points rather than setting its sights higher. Bearman and Ocon both said the updates need to give Haas enough pace to get back into that battle after a difficult European stretch.
VF-26 issues
Komatsu said Haas is fighting two problems at once, inconsistency from the VF-26 and an upgrade rate that has lagged behind larger rivals. He said Alpine and Racing Bulls have moved faster with development, which has widened the gap to the front of Haas’s immediate fight. Komatsu also said the major 2026 rule change was always going to be hard for the smallest team on the grid, and he put the current performance gap at roughly two seconds from Haas’s side. The Montreal upgrade brought some gains, but Komatsu said it also made the car harder to drive, a trade-off that has hurt the team as it tries to build a stable platform. Haas is not backing away from the 2026 car. Komatsu said the team is still working on the VF-26 and is still focused on finding and fixing the car’s fundamental issues rather than shifting everything to the next project. That leaves Haas trying to develop while also stabilizing the package it already has, a balance that has proved difficult through the middle part of the season.
Monza outlook
Bearman said Haas has seen downforce discrepancies that amount to the benefit of an upgrade, a sign that the team believes the car still has untapped performance when everything lines up. He said new parts are coming soon, and he said Haas should be able to move up to ninth and beat Aston Martin at Monza. Haas also expects to beat Aston Martin there, even though it has been less consistent than Aston Martin in recent races. Komatsu and the drivers put the same condition on the weekend’s success, the team must make the VF-26 work consistently before the new parts matter. If Haas can do that, Bearman and Ocon said the updates should give the team enough pace to rejoin the fight for points. That is the standard Haas is chasing now, a cleaner, more predictable car and a result that would stop the drift from the midfield pack. Monza offers a clear test, because the team has fresh parts on the way and a design group closely tied to the work back home, but the answer still depends on execution on track.
