Ayao Komatsu, the principal of Haas, has acknowledged that the team anticipated greater performance from Esteban Ocon in the 2025 season. Following discussions over the winter, Komatsu is optimistic that Ocon will provide a more significant impact in the upcoming year.
Ocon transitioned to Haas last season after a substantial five-year tenure with the Alpine team, which was formerly known as Renault. He also has experience racing for Manor and Force India since his debut in 2016, along with a year spent as a reserve driver for Mercedes.
Teaming up with rookie Ollie Bearman, Ocon concluded the season ranked lower than his teammate in the Drivers’ Championship standings. While both drivers were evenly matched in race-day encounters, Bearman managed to outperform Ocon in qualifying sessions, scoring 14 to Ocon’s 10.
During a recent media interaction, Komatsu expressed optimism about Ocon’s mindset at the Barcelona Shakedown following their winter discussions. “We have had very constructive conversations over the winter as we prepared for pre-season, and now we have a mutual understanding,” he stated. “He is fully aware of our expectations, and I am clear about what he requires from the team, so we addressed everything before the Barcelona Shakedown, which makes me quite pleased.”
Moreover, Komatsu highlighted the progress made by Ocon during the Barcelona test, indicating that their collaboration as a team is improving. He noted, “Esteban and Ollie are beginning to work well together, and we must enhance our cooperation to accelerate our progress. During some tests, both Esteban and Ollie provided very similar feedback, which is encouraging given the new regulations we are working with.”
When questioned about whether the conversation about team size was part of the clarity achieved with Ocon, Komatsu clarified, “It’s more than just that. If we look at the sporting results alone, it’s evident that no one is satisfied with Esteban’s outcomes last year. He competes against a rookie—an impressive one—but he has a decade of F1 experience, including wins and podiums, so we anticipated more from him.”
He continued, “Of course, it’s not solely his responsibility. It’s a shared situation—sometimes the team couldn’t provide him with a car that suited him, particularly during qualifying, and this issue was more pronounced at times. For instance, in Baku, his dissatisfaction with the braking performance led to a significant gap in qualifying pace. While Baku suited Ollie, we did not expect Esteban to be so far behind.”
Komatsu emphasized that the challenges faced cannot be attributed to a single factor, stating, “There’s no single reason; it’s not just about the driver or the team, and every situation is unique. We need to improve our process to resolve issues more quickly and implement solutions for subsequent races.”
Looking ahead, Komatsu believes that the entire Haas team can enhance its performance. He remarked, “I feel that as a collective—both team and drivers—we did not perform adequately last year. We should have addressed issues more swiftly. Take Abu Dhabi, for example; he struggled on Friday but was competitive on Saturday. It’s not due to one major issue, but rather several factors that create a cascading effect. We must tackle these challenges more efficiently because Esteban’s potential is evident.”
He concluded, “If we analyze Abu Dhabi, his performance on Saturday and Sunday, where he achieved seventh place after a challenging Friday, illustrates his talent and capability. We need to harness that effectively, especially since we require strong contributions from both drivers this year—something we needed last season but even more so now.”
