“Esteban’s proved himself in the teams he’s raced for as someone who’s continually in the mix and scoring points.”
This is how Gene Haas introduced his new hire, Esteban Ocon, ahead of the 2025 season. Entering his ninth Formula 1 campaign – his eighth full-time – Ocon was supposed to spearhead Haas’ effort alongside admittedly promising but still inexperienced Ferrari protege Oliver Bearman.
Teamed with new race engineer Laura Mueller, who used to be a performance engineer at Haas, Ocon was taken aback by Haas’ early lack of pace, as he qualified 19th in Melbourne. Both VF-25s propped up the field on the grid and under the chequered flag.
Still, the car had potential. Ocon raced it to fifth in the Chinese Grand Prix, though he inherited that position after both Ferraris were disqualified.
After that, Haas’ form remained up and down. Ocon alternated between lowly Q1 exits and Q3 appearances in Miami and Monaco, having crashed out of qualifying in Bahrain – a rare error by the Frenchman.
Qualifying highs allowed Ocon to score decent points with seventh in Monaco and fifth in the Spa-Francorchamps sprint race, and he tackled the summer break with 27 points to Bearman’s eight.
But the 20-year-old’s performance was ramping up. Up until the Spanish round, Ocon outqualified Bearman 7-3; over the remaining 20 events, he was outqualified 15-5. The one-time grand prix winner struggled to get the best out of his machinery, and it only got worse.
Ocon grew increasingly unhappy with the VF-25’s behaviour, especially under braking, to the extent that on Friday in Abu Dhabi, he told Canal+ that he “felt like a rookie who’s never driven an F1 car”.
“There’s a lot of instability,” he added. “I feel like I can’t drive anymore, I can’t put a lap together anymore. It’s been unmanageable for many races.
“We can’t solve the issues and it doesn’t fit my driving style, so… We’re just slow. We’re very, very far from where we should be.”
Yet, team principal Ayao Komatsu made it clear that the issue did lie with Ocon’s driving style, with the squad unsure how to solve it given its rookie driver seamlessly handled the same car specification. “The best chance is for you to drive around it, find a way to drive around it,” the Japanese reckoned.
Hence Ocon’s paltry 11 points after the summer break, while Bearman collected 33. The elder therefore finished the season three points behind his young team-mate, which he openly admitted was “difficult to swallow”.
2026 will be key for Ocon to prove his worth, both as someone who can lead Haas with experience and as a driver who can score consistent points. But Bearman will only be stronger.
At least Ocon has already proven to be a team player at Haas, despite his (arguably undeserved) reputation as someone who squabbles a little too much with his team-mates.
The Frenchman said he found a ‘healthier environment’ than Alpine and had the “best relationship out of all the team-mates I had” with Bearman.
Ocon actually let his team-mate through in Belgium when he was struggling on a low-downforce set-up in the wet. “I didn't even have to give a team order,” Komatsu said. “Esteban let Ollie pass by himself. That's the answer [to questions about Ocon’s reputation].”
Now, Ocon just needs to retrieve the quick pace he has shown for most of his F1 career.
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