Ayao Komatsu, the team principal for Haas, has confessed that he anticipated a stronger performance from Esteban Ocon during the 2025 Formula 1 season.
Ocon transferred to Haas last year following his departure from the long-standing Alpine team, partnering with Oliver Bearman. Contrary to expectations, his rookie teammate outscored him throughout the 2025 season, with Bearman accumulating 41 points compared to Ocon’s 38.
Bearman also surpassed his more experienced colleague in qualifying sessions, winning 17-11 (excluding technical issues), and these statistics were not by chance. Ocon’s results were inconsistent; as the season progressed and the young British driver’s form intensified, Ocon increasingly found himself being outperformed.
Ocon expressed growing dissatisfaction with how his vehicle handled, particularly during braking. However, Komatsu attributed the issue to Ocon’s driving style, noting that Bearman did not experience similar problems.
Considering everything, Ocon’s debut season with Haas did not meet the projected standards, a fact his team principal openly acknowledges.
“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 stated. “You know, he’s a team-mate against a rookie. Yes, amazing rookie, but nonetheless, 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.”
Esteban Ocon, Haas F1 Team VF-25, Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal of Haas F1, Oliver Bearman, Haas F1 Team VF-25
Photo by: Haas F1 Team
“And undeniably, it’s not entirely his fault; it’s a shared responsibility,” Komatsu added. “At times, the team couldn’t furnish him with a car he felt comfortable in, particularly during qualifying sessions.”
“Furthermore, at certain tracks, this issue became much more pronounced than at others. Consider Baku, for instance; he was genuinely dissatisfied with specific braking capabilities, and consequently, he was significantly off the pace in qualifying. While Baku coincidentally was one of Ollie’s strongest tracks, we certainly didn’t anticipate Esteban’s performance to be so far below par on his weakest day.”
“Yet again, there isn’t a single explanation; it’s not solely the driver’s responsibility, nor solely the team’s, and each scenario is unique. Therefore, there’s no single overarching cause, no magical solution; it’s merely a methodical approach to collaborating and understanding the root cause more swiftly, then implementing remedies for the subsequent race.”
“That aspect, I believe we – both the team and the driver – didn’t execute very well last year, because I genuinely felt we should have resolved those issues more quickly.”
Komatsu referenced last year’s concluding Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, where Ocon faced such significant difficulties on Friday that he expressed to Canal+ feeling “like a rookie who’s never driven an F1 car”.
“There’s a lot of instability,” he subsequently remarked. “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.”
Despite these struggles, he narrowly out-qualified Bearman to enter Q3; he then achieved a commendable seventh place in the main race, starting from eighth on the grid.
Esteban Ocon, Haas F1 Team
Photo by: Guido De Bortoli / LAT Images via Getty Images
“Consider Abu Dhabi on Friday; he was utterly lacking in pace, about four-tenths slower than Ollie; then on Saturday, suddenly, he found his speed,” Komatsu highlighted.
“Again, it’s not simply one definitive solution; it’s a series of — I wouldn’t call them minor, but possibly minor — factors that truly initiate a cumulative effect. And we genuinely need to address these issues more promptly, because Esteban’s inherent capability is evident.”
“If you observe his performance in Abu Dhabi, what he’s capable of on Saturday and Sunday, especially after a particularly poor Friday, that underscores his innate talent and capacity. It’s imperative that we leverage and cultivate this potential, as we genuinely require both drivers to perform effectively this year. Indeed, we needed them both last year, but the demand is even greater now.”
