Esteban Ocon: ‘Haas may be testing new drivers, but drivers aren’t the problem’

As his F1 future grows uncertain due to his lack of performance, Esteban Ocon is adamant that he’s not the problem – and that the team knows it

Esteban Ocon says “drivers are not the problem” at the struggling Haas Formula 1 team, with his future in the world championship at threat.

Haas’ VF-26 has suffered from inconsistency in the way its car parts perform, which the latest aerodynamic upgrades introduced in Monza haven’t fixed, although Ocon described them as “positive”.

Ocon has noticeably underperformed relative to team-mate Oliver Bearman so far this season, having been outqualified 12-6 and outscored 18-3 – though the latter is mostly down to the Briton’s heroics in the opening two grands prix.

Since the April break, Ocon has actually outscored Bearman 2-1, as Haas gradually lost ground in the pecking order. But across all grands prix, the youngster has finished just one race behind the veteran – in Hungary.

Coincidentally, that was one round where the inconsistency issue impacted Bearman while Ocon was unaffected, though the Frenchman believes it to have plagued him in 10 of 13 rounds so far this year.

“This is something that we face so far this season,” Ocon said. “Myself, Ayao [Komatsu, team principal] and Ollie are very aware of that. When we got the cars to a healthy state where they can perform, we perform as drivers, as a side of the garage.

Esteban Ocon, Haas F1 Team

Photo by: Guido De Bortoli / LAT Images via Getty Images

“Ollie, last week, had a car that was delivering what we were expecting. And on my side, it wasn't, but that was very different in Budapest for example, where he faced these difficulties.

“We are aware of these things. This is our full focus at this stage, to try and not have these issues to start the weekend, just working normally with the car. It gets difficult once you are running after a deficit, let's say, in terms of performance. That's the situation we are in.

“But that doesn't take away all the good work that the team has done in the recent races. It's been three Q2s in a row. Of course, it's not Q3. But I feel like I've extracted the maximum out of the car that I could, and there was nothing left on the table.

“It's not the result that we want. We, of course, need more performance to be fighting into the points. But it's still a satisfaction to say, that was the car we had, we may get the maximum out of what it could do, now we need to work on this and that. And that's what we are doing. And I think we've been doing a pretty good job on our side recently. So we need to keep going.”

Ocon’s future has been understood to be at threat for months now, and Haas tested potential replacements in a former F1 car at Portimao two weeks ago – namely the team’s reserve driver Ryo Hirakawa, McLaren reserve Leonardo Fornaroli, and Ferrari junior Rafael Camara. Fornaroli is the reigning Formula 2 champion, while Camara is in contention for this year’s title.

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Ocon played down the importance of the test and was adamant that the current problems weren’t down to him and Bearman.

Asked about his negotiations with Haas for 2027 and potential talks with other teams, the soon-to-be 30-year-old replied: “We are having discussions, obviously, regarding the future, in these recent weeks. I've been convinced to come for this project with Ayao since 2025. Of course, the first discussions need to happen with this team, and they are happening right now.

Esteban Ocon, Haas F1 Team

Photo by: Simon Galloway / LAT Images via Getty Images

“But yes, the team is allowed to test all the drivers if they want. We have a TPC program that's very important to us. It's also some kind of revenue for us.

“But it is clear that inside the team the drivers are not the problem. We are all pushing together in the same direction to try and get more out of the car. And myself and Ollie, when we have the car to perform, we do.

“And at the moment, all I'm focused about is to get the maximum of what we can do, fix the issues of the car, learn this new track, and hopefully have good results.”

Haas is currently on a seven-race point-less streak, its joint-worst since the 2021 season – which was a write-off for the team.