Valtteri Bottas publicly claimed he was ‘concerned’ for £807m F1 team after seeing them in Bahrain testing

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F1 enjoyed a fairly uninterrupted three days of pre-season testing in Bahrain. All 10 teams had little to no reliability concerns, allowing for a smooth outing.

A power cut at the Sakhir International Circuit on day one brought out the red flag, while a rain shower halted proceedings on the second day. By the end of testing, McLaren showed they had the fastest F1 car heading into 2025 over Ferrari and Mercedes in the pecking order.

The midfield looks set to be competitive, too. Williams and Alpine have made some significant steps forward while Haas, Racing Bulls, Aston Martin and Sauber will be looking to score regular points this season.

Haas will field an all-new driver pairing in 2025 with Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman replacing Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen.

The American team are looking to build on an impressive 2024 campaign under the guidance of Ayao Komatsu. Haas narrowly missed out on sixth in the constructors’ championship as they finished the year with arguably the fifth-strongest package.

Valtteri Bottas publicly claimed he was ‘concerned’ for Haas heading into 2025

Bearman gave a thumbs-up after his race simulation in the VF-25 – indicating he seemed happy with the car’s performance. But pre-season testing did leave some question marks for the American outfit.

A piece of bodywork on the engine cover flew off the Brit’s car on day three. Bearman did not complete a qualifying simulation as a result, leaving him ‘disappointed’ as he left the circuit.

READ MORE: All to know about Haas F1 Team from team principal to Ferrari and Toyota ties

Ocon set Haas’ best time of testing on the final day but was 1.1 seconds behind Mercedes driver George Russell. According to Craig Slater, the Silver Arrows’ reserve driver Valtteri Bottas ‘publicly’ expressed his concern for the American outfit ahead of the new season.

Speaking about Haas on the Sky Sports F1 YouTube channel, Ted Kravitz discussed with Komatsu had told him about the VF-25: “The Haas is a good car.

“Ayao Komatsu is not worried about its pace, that’s the crucial thing. When I spoke to him yesterday, I said: ‘Don’t you need to take the fuel out to see the pace?’

“He said: ‘ I’m not worried about the pace, I think it’s OK, we need to do that.’ So I’m putting Haas… I’m happy with putting Haas directly behind Alpine and Williams.”

Slater then responded: “People are saying the same thing to me. They were sort of reassuringly slow, it’s what they did last year then came out the box pretty well.

“Although Valtteri Bottas said he was concerned about them and actually said it publicly.”

Karun Chandhok sees ’cause for nervousness’ at Haas with their staff changes

Haas have seen multiple changes to the backroom staff heading into 2025. Komatsu has hired Laura Meuller as Ocon’s race engineer while Ronan O’Hare will work with Bearman.

Karun Chandhok says Komatsu is ‘concerned’ about getting his new staff to work as one. He also thinks it is ‘not ideal’ that Haas were unable to coax staff from rival teams to join.

The £807m-valued F1 team will be confident with their exciting driver pairing that 2025 can be successful. Ocon will be re-energised with a fresh adventure after leaving Alpine while Bearman has already proven he can perform in F1 after his impressive cameo appearances in 2024.

But after a somewhat disappointing pre-season, Bottas’ concerns about Haas may be merited. Only time will tell when they hit the track in Melbourne if the VF-25 can be a competitive car.