Struggling midfield team confirms much-needed Monza F1 upgrades

Haas will bring a long-awaited upgrade package to the Italian Grand Prix this weekend after sliding steadily down the Formula 1 pecking order prior to the summer shutdown. 

The American-owned team is believed to be one of the only teams operating below the cost cap limit, and has not brought a significant upgrade package to the track since the Canadian Grand Prix in May. 

Following that race, Haas was seventh in the standings with 19 points scored - most of these coming from the opening two races that saw Ollie Bearman finish in seventh and fifth places in Australia and China, with a further point scored in the Chinese sprint race.

However, since Canada, the team has only scored two points, both of which came in Monaco. Still seventh in the constructors' table, Audi has closed the gap with four consecutive points finishes. 

"We’ll be arriving in Italy keen to put a frustrating weekend in Zandvoort firmly behind us," said team boss Ayao Komatsu after a double retirement last time out. 

"There were positives for sure operationally, but ultimately, we were still looking to find more performance from the VF-26. 

"This weekend, we’re bringing another upgrade package to the car, so again, it’s critical we maximise our practice time, evaluate our data comprehensively, and strive to keep pushing in the midfield. 

"The races in the second half of the season come thick and fast – which is great – but it’s a challenge for sure. We showed last year that we can continue to find performance deep into the season, and that’s our continued focus.”

Commenting on the incoming upgrades, Esteban Ocon added: "We’re bringing a comprehensive list of updates to Monza, which are focused on bringing us back to our competitors in the midfield. 

"Budapest and Zandvoort were positive on my side in that I felt comfortable in the car and we really got the most out of the package we had. So, I’d like to carry on that trend and extract the most out of these updates from day one and get back in the fight for points.”