While Aston Martin celebrated finishing last and Red Bull struggled to eighth, Haas did what they have done at every single race weekend of 2026. They scored points. Three races, three points finishes, fourth in the constructors’ championship, eighteen points on the board. The smallest team on the grid, no works engine, a fraction of their rivals’ budgets — and currently one of the best stories in Formula One.
▶ Watch the full Haas Suzuka review on The Motion Report →
The Race: Ocon Scores Despite Safety Car Timing — Again
Esteban Ocon started twelfth and finished tenth. One point. The detail of how he got there tells you everything. Strong opening lap, immediate positions gained, clean strategy — until the Safety Car emerged at precisely the wrong moment. Ocon pitted on lap nineteen, lost track position, and rejoined eleventh. Third consecutive race where Safety Car timing has worked against Haas. Third consecutive race they scored anyway. Komatsu said it plainly — they extracted the maximum from the car in every situation.
Bearman’s race ended at Spoon Curve. We have covered the crash and the super clipping crisis separately. What matters here is his response afterwards. He said they have a month to reset and come back strong in Miami. That is the mindset of someone who will be ready.
Fourth Ahead of Red Bull. How?
Before his crash, Bearman sat fifth in the drivers’ championship — a 20-year-old in his second Formula One season, outscoring Verstappen and every McLaren driver. Komatsu described it with characteristic understatement: scoring a point in every race as the smallest team is really positive.
The answer to how they are doing it starts with the car. Three years of development have produced something Komatsu describes as predictable, consistent, and coherent. In Formula One, that is everything. A car a driver can trust completely translates directly into lap time and into points. Furthermore, the integration between both drivers and the engineering team on energy deployment has been seamless — not an accident, but months of deliberate cultural building.
The Toyota Signal Nobody Discussed
Here is the story this paddock largely missed. Toyota chairman Akio Toyoda was present at Suzuka — visible, deliberate, purposeful. This is Honda’s home race. Honda’s CEO was absent. Toyota’s chairman was not. Haas scored points. Haas outperformed Honda’s works partner at Honda’s own home race, in front of Toyota’s most senior executive. That is not coincidence. That is a statement — even if nobody at Toyota would ever frame it that way publicly.
Miami is next. Toyota’s most strategically important market. Formula One’s fastest growing audience. A healthy Bearman back in the car. The Haas story in 2026 is already one of the best on the entire grid.
▶ Full Haas analysis — watch now on The Motion Report →
Tags: Haas F1 2026, Oliver Bearman, Esteban Ocon, Ayao Komatsu, Toyota F1, constructors championship 2026, Suzuka Japanese Grand Prix, F1 2026 midfield, Haas points 2026
Haas have scored points at all three races of the 2026 season, sitting fourth in the constructors’ championship with eighteen points — ahead of Red Bull, Audi, and Alpine.
Toyoda attended Suzuka as Honda’s works partner Aston Martin struggled, while Haas — backed by Toyota Gazoo Racing — scored points at Honda’s home race. His presence was widely read in the paddock as a deliberate statement of intent.
Read More
- Aston Martin at the 2026 Japanese Grand Prix: One Finish, One DNF and the Hard Truths Nobody Could Hide
- F1 2026’s Super Clipping Crisis: Bearman’s Suzuka Crash Was a Warning Nobody Acted On
- Is Max Verstappen About to Quit Formula One? The Red Bull Crisis Nobody Is Talking About
- F1 2026 Japanese Grand Prix Race Report: Antonelli Wins at Suzuka to Lead the Championship
