Why did Haas slip down the pecking order?

Haas endured another frustrating Sprint Qualifying session at the British Grand Prix, with both drivers eliminated in SQ1 as the American team's recent struggles continued at Silverstone.

After a difficult weekend in Austria, Haas arrived at one of the fastest circuits on the calendar hoping to make progress, but the high-speed nature of Silverstone once again exposed the VF-26's weaknesses.

Oliver Bearman led the team's charge in 17th place, while Esteban Ocon qualified 18th, leaving both drivers facing an uphill battle in Saturday's Sprint.

Bearman had suggested ahead of the weekend that Haas had been out-developed by its direct midfield rivals in recent races, and Friday's performance appeared to reinforce that assessment. While the team introduced an updated rear wing for Silverstone, the Briton admitted it was not enough to offset the gains made by rival teams.

"It's a shame as I think if everything went well, we would've been through, but I started the lap with low battery – only by 10 percent, but still at this track where it's so sensitive, that more than covers the gap to get through," Bearman explained.

He believes Haas has slipped backwards in the increasingly competitive midfield battle.

"Unfortunately, we're battling Williams to get out of SQ1, which is not where we were a couple of months ago, so it shows that we need to keep working to make a big step forward.

"We brought an updated rear wing, and it seems to be working as expected, but everyone around us that we're competing with has brought more, and that's it – it's a sign of where we are."

Bearman also acknowledged that significant improvements are unlikely to arrive immediately, with the team not expecting any major upgrades before the summer shutdown.

"We don't have any big updates coming before summer break, so I expect the next few races to be a big push. It's a shame, but it's how it is," noted the Briton.

Ocon painted a similarly bleak picture after qualifying 18th, admitting Haas simply lacked pace throughout Friday.

"It was a difficult session. In FP1 we started to see that we were lacking pace overall, and I think it was slightly worse in terms of the overall classification in Sprint Qualifying. It's difficult to assess exactly where we're losing at the moment, but this is the performance we've got, and now we need to keep pushing."

The Frenchman remains hopeful that the team can make overnight improvements before Saturday's Grand Prix qualifying.

"This is what the whole team is going to do this weekend, and we'll try to get the maximum out of the car. Hopefully tomorrow we can improve further to qualify closer to the points."

Team Principal Ayao Komatsu admitted the result accurately reflected the current competitiveness of the VF-26 and highlighted the contrast between the car's strengths and weaknesses.

While Haas showed encouraging pace through slower corners in Austria, Silverstone's abundance of fast, sweeping turns exposed a fundamental limitation.

"Obviously, it's been a tough day with a tough result, but unfortunately, it's reflective of where we are with this car, at least today. In Austria, we struggled, but in low-speed we were competitive, but when we got to high-speed we were missing performance."

Komatsu explained that, unlike at the Red Bull Ring, Haas lacked pace in virtually every type of corner at Silverstone, despite both drivers producing respectable laps.

"Here, if you look at SQ1, it wasn't a bad lap from our drivers. On the out-lap, we struggled a bit with traffic, therefore energy deployment wasn't the best, but putting that aside, we're not quick in any speed of corner here. We know some of the reasons why, and we're working in the background with the team at the factory on it."

Despite the difficult spell, the Japanese team boss insisted Haas remains focused on solving its performance deficit, with the trackside operation maximising the package available while engineers at the factory continue working on longer-term improvements.

"The trackside team, following on from last weekend, did a decent job, so we just need to focus on what we can do best with what we're given.

"Meanwhile, at the factory, we're trying to improve the car as quickly as possible. It's a tough time, but that's racing, and it's Formula 1 – it's not easy. We have to go through this tough period by sticking together and improve the car, as we have done the last two years."

With no major upgrade package expected before the summer break, Haas appears set for a challenging run of races as it attempts to halt its slide in the fiercely contested midfield battle. Friday's performance at Silverstone suggested the team still has significant work ahead if it is to regain the competitiveness it displayed earlier in the season.