Italian Grand Prix: Practice Recap

Ollie Bearman and Esteban Ocon both utilized the Pirelli P Zero White hard and Red soft tires in FP1 – the opening 60-minute practice session of the weekend – each of their respective VF-26s running the team’s latest aerodynamic package. Bearman, whose car was also kitted out with the latest-spec Ferrari power-unit, ended the session in P14 with a fastest lap of 1:24.646 – recorded on the soft compound. Ocon sat P18 at the checkered flag – a best lap of 1:25.852 set on the hard rubber, the Frenchman denied a clean stint on soft tires due to traffic.

FP2 saw both cars run immediately on the Yellow medium tire for some baseline laps before switching onto soft rubber for qualifying sims. Bearman subsequently made the most of the upgrades and track conditions to plant his VF-26 inside the top 10 – the British racer claiming P8 on the session with a 1:23.370 hot lap. Ocon was again hampered by car inconsistencies in the second session which resulted in a P18 finish with a best lap on the softs of 1:24.407.

TGR Haas F1 Team ran a total of 113 laps on Friday across FP1 and FP2 – 57 by Bearman, with 56 from Ocon.

Ollie Bearman:

“It’s been a good day – really positive. It’s definitely our best Friday – probably since March or April, so that’s really nice, and a big boost for the team. Of course, I got a good position on track and a good tow, and that’s not something we can guarantee come qualifying but the feeling with the car is night and day different, we’ve made a big, big step in that regard. I’m really proud of the team because we were hoping and needing this upgrade to be a step forward and it has been. I’m really proud of the execution of everybody within our team.”

Esteban Ocon:

“So yes, it’s obviously good to test the track, you know, with these new 2026 regs. It’s very different to how it was last year, so there’s a lot for us to take onboard from today. Good that the team has brought some new updates for this weekend. I think there’s still a lot of things to look at on our side. Obviously, we’re lacking a bit in some areas, so hopefully we can unlock that pace for tomorrow. But yes, a few issues today – ultimately not the smoothest day, but hopefully that will be enough data to have for tomorrow.”

Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal:

“This was obviously a very important Friday because we brought an upgrade package, and from what we know so far, I think it’s delivering in terms of characteristics. It’s exactly what we needed, so full credit to the team that’ve been working on analyzing the issues with this car, why the drivers can’t exploit the performance of this car, what’s lacking and so on. I think we got it right; the guys got it right. Of course there are always more areas to improve, but our direction is completely correct. So that’s very good. There’s a big gap between Esteban and Ollie today, but that’s not representative of Esteban either. I mean, as I’ve been transparent before, we have some inconsistency issues, we see some lack of performance on Esteban’s car today, and then we really tried to get to the bottom of it in FP2 but we haven’t, so we need to focus on that because if Ollie can do this and if we can get Esteban up there, we can fight close to the points. That’s our aim tonight.”