Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu has expressed disappointment with Esteban Ocon's performance during the 2025 Formula 1 season, where the experienced driver was outscored by rookie teammate Oliver Bearman. Despite acknowledging shared responsibility between driver and team, Komatsu remains confident in Ocon's potential. The team aims to address inconsistencies more quickly in the upcoming year.
Esteban Ocon joined Haas in 2024 after departing from Alpine, partnering with rookie Oliver Bearman for the 2025 campaign. Contrary to expectations, Ocon finished with 38 points, just behind Bearman's 41. Bearman also edged out Ocon in qualifying, 17-11 excluding technical issues, as the Briton's form improved throughout the season while Ocon's results fluctuated.
Ocon voiced frustration with the Haas VF-25 car's behavior, particularly under braking. Komatsu attributed some issues to Ocon's driving style, noting Bearman faced no such problems. "If you purely look at the sporting result, without going to details, for sure nobody's satisfied with Esteban's sporting result last year, right?" Komatsu said. "He's a team-mate against a rookie... he's got 10 years of F1 under his belt. He's a race winner, he's a podium finisher. So we expected more from him."
The team principal described the situation as "50-50," with the team sometimes failing to provide a car suited to Ocon, especially in qualifying. Circuits like Baku amplified these challenges; Ocon was unhappy with braking and lagged significantly in qualifying there. Komatsu emphasized there is no single cause: "There's not one reason, there's not just a driver, there's not just a team... it's a process, how we work together to get the bottom of it so much quicker."
A stark example came at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Ocon struggled on Friday, telling Canal+: "I felt like a rookie who’s never driven an F1 car... There’s a lot of instability... We’re just slow. We’re very, very far from where we should be." Yet, he outqualified Bearman to reach Q3 and finished seventh in the race. "Look at Abu Dhabi on Friday, he was completely off the pace, like four tenths off Ollie; Saturday, bang, he was on the pace," Komatsu noted.
Komatsu highlighted that small factors can trigger larger issues, creating a snowball effect. He stressed harnessing Ocon's clear talent, as the team requires strong performances from both drivers moving forward.
