Oliver Bearman has added further weight to Lewis Hamilton’s concerns over Ferrari’s power unit after the Haas driver struggled to defend against Arvid Lindblad during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Despite believing his car was quicker across the lap, Oliver Bearman found the Racing Bulls driver’s straight-line advantage too large to overcome on Baku’s lengthy full-throttle sections.
The comparison was particularly revealing because Haas uses Ferrari power, while Arvid Lindblad was driving a Red Bull-powered Racing Bulls. With Lewis Hamilton also complaining about Ferrari’s straight-line performance during the same Grand Prix, the two drivers encountered a similar limitation from different cars using the Maranello manufacturer’s power unit.
Oliver Bearman could not contain Arvid Lindblad on Baku straight
Oliver Bearman and Haas were brought into points contention following the incident involving the two Alpine drivers and McLaren’s Lando Norris. The British driver was running on medium tyres when Arvid Lindblad, equipped with softs, closed in during the late stages.
The tyre difference favoured the Racing Bulls driver, but Oliver Bearman identified straight-line speed as the decisive problem. The Ferrari Driver Academy graduate explained that although Haas had stronger pace across the overall lap, Arvid Lindblad was dramatically faster down Baku’s 2.2-kilometre start-finish straight. That advantage left Oliver Bearman unable to keep the Racing Bulls behind.
The difference was also evident when Arvid Lindblad attacked Esteban Ocon. The Racing Bulls driver powered past the other Haas in a drag race towards the finish line, underlining how difficult it was for the Ferrari-powered cars to defend on the longest acceleration zone.
The straight-line picture can be explored further through the ScuderiaFans F1 Top Speed Comparison, while Ferrari’s wider Baku telemetry analysis highlighted the SF-26’s performance limitations during the Azerbaijan weekend.
Lewis Hamilton encountered the same Ferrari power concern
The works Ferrari team faced a similar problem. Lewis Hamilton repeatedly complained about a lack of power during the race, continuing a theme that has appeared several times during the season. The seven-time world champion has been particularly concerned about the amount and positioning of electrical energy deployment available when fighting other cars.
Lewis Hamilton had already drawn an unfavourable comparison with Mercedes power after Kimi Antonelli passed him at the Italian Grand Prix. The British driver considered the Mercedes performance particularly impressive relative to Ferrari, while earlier in the season he estimated that he was losing around four tenths of a second on the straights.
Ferrari had hoped the highly anticipated ADUO2 power-unit development introduced around Monza would improve the situation. However, the Baku evidence suggests it has not transformed the competitive picture in straight-line conditions. The deployment issue had already remained visible during practice, despite Ferrari making progress in other areas, as detailed in the FP3 analysis of Ferrari’s Baku package.
Oliver Bearman had already played down the ADUO2 impact
Oliver Bearman was among the first drivers to gain access to the updated Ferrari power unit, receiving it before Haas team-mate Esteban Ocon. Speaking during the Italian Grand Prix weekend, Oliver Bearman indicated that the upgrade represented an improvement but was far from transformative.
That assessment now carries additional significance after Azerbaijan. Ferrari’s power unit has been extremely strong from a reliability perspective, but outright performance appears to remain a concern for both the works team and its customers. Haas and Cadillac may therefore have hoped for more performance from the package, particularly when compared with rival manufacturers.
Ferrari’s management of the upgraded unit has remained an important part of its recent race weekends. Charles Leclerc, for example, avoided a Baku grid penalty as Ferrari preserved its Monza ADUO-2 engine, highlighting the importance of managing the available power-unit pool alongside performance requirements.
Red Bull-powered Racing Bulls exposes Ferrari deficit
The comparison with Arvid Lindblad is especially uncomfortable because Red Bull is not believed to possess the strongest overall power unit in Formula 1. The FIA rates its internal combustion engine highly, while Mercedes is considered the overall reference package.
That makes the scale of the Racing Bulls advantage over Haas on the Baku straight more significant. Oliver Bearman ultimately finished ninth, but his inability to resist Arvid Lindblad despite feeling quicker over the complete lap illustrated how severely a straight-line deficit can compromise racecraft at a circuit dominated by one of Formula 1’s longest acceleration zones.
Haas has also slipped behind Racing Bulls and Alpine within the midfield battle, although its competitive position cannot be attributed solely to the Ferrari engine. The team’s budget limitations also affect its overall performance, meaning the Azerbaijan result reflects a combination of car potential and power-unit characteristics rather than one factor alone.
For Ferrari, however, the similarity between Oliver Bearman’s experience and Lewis Hamilton’s complaints creates another data point to examine. With both the works car and a customer team struggling against rival-powered machinery on the straights in Baku, the balance between reliability, outright power and energy deployment remains an important area as the Scuderia continues developing its package.
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