Esteban Ocon admits Haas still needs to rebuild its confidence despite what he describes as an amazing turnaround between the first two races of the 2025 season.
Haas had a solid pre-season of testing but was comfortably the slowest car at the Australian Grand Prix and was not in the mix for points in a chaotic race. One week later, the team bounced back with double points in China — eventually promoted from seventh and 10th to fifth and eighth due to post-race penalties — but Ocon says the next target is to be consistently competitive.
“We need to stay on top of our game,” Ocon said. “The confidence is not yet there, because it’s only race two and we’ve been swinging in performance from bottom of the bottom to midfield to now top of the midfield.
“So, we need to stay on top of what we are doing, focus on ourselves and optimize what we have. I know there’s more performance to unlock from the car and that’s very good to see.”
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Despite his words of caution, Ocon is full of praise for the job Haas managed to do between back-to-back races in Australia and China, and he hopes it shows what the team is capable of.
“Not that many days ago, we were dead last in Melbourne and it was looking difficult,” he admitted. “But, we didn’t sleep much — we couldn’t eat very much, in the words of Ayao [Komatsu, team principal] — but it was all worth it, because we discussed everything about where to unlock that performance from the car. We knew there was more performance to be had.
“Obviously, it’s a good surprise to see that we still can improve some more, and that’s where we are. So, it’s very good signs. But honestly, amazing turnaround from the team — proud of everyone back in Maranello and Banbury. I think they’ve done an amazing job putting their hearts into it and trying to find solutions.
“So, well done to them and well done to Ollie [Bearman], because double points for us is a massive thing. He was out of position [in the Sprint] and it’s really great to see him coming back on an alternate strategy as well. We’ve made it work, and it’s great to see. So, hopefully only the beginning.”
