INCONSISTENT HAAS PERFORMANCE HAS AFFECTED BOTH DRIVERS, BEARMAN ADMITS

Oliver Bearman confirmed what Haas already suspected: the American team's car has been a mystery box all season. Performance swings from one session to the next, sometimes without changing a single part, leaving both drivers guessing whether they'll have pace before FP1 even starts.

The inconsistency hit Esteban Ocon hard enough that Haas declined his option for next year, despite Bearman praising him as a valuable teammate. Bearman edged Ocon 41-38 in points through his first full season, learning the team-leadership side of the job from the Frenchman while the car bounced between competitive and hopeless weekend to weekend.

The chaos appears to have calmed since the Monza upgrade package arrived, but the damage was done. Bearman, just 21, now steps into the senior role with a likely rookie alongside him. He'll need that newfound stability to stick — Haas can't develop around a driver who doesn't know what he's working with until the green light.