Esteban Ocon has outlined how his time with Haas in Formula 1 has “incredibly surprised” him so far after spending a stint at Alpine that ultimately ended in disarray.
The Frenchman spent five years at the Enstone-based team between 2020 and 2024, famously taking his maiden race victory at the Hungarian Grand Prix in 2021.
But despite his dependable results, his time with long-time karting rival Pierre Gasly last year meant he was unceremoniously ousted from the team at the end of 2024.
Following contact with Gasly in Monaco, then Team Principal Bruno Famin had threatened Ocon with “consequences”. A month later, it was announced he would be leaving.
However, he quickly signed with Haas for 2025 and beyond, partnering rookie Oliver Bearman in a brand-new line-up at the team.
And looking back at the 14 races he has raced to date with the Kannapolis-based squad, Ocon was quick to draw a contrasting parallel between the two outfits.
“Compared to my previous experience, it’s a healthy environment,” Ocon told Motorsport.com.
“As I said, no one’s hiding behind anything. If we don’t do something right, we talk about it and hope not to do it again. And we talk about it straight away at the end of the race.
“And that’s good, because if you don’t talk about it – which is what I’ve experienced before – then you [are] going to do it again. That’s the main thing.
“This team is incredibly motivated. It can sound crazy, but I’ve seen some people not motivated in the past, even working in the Formula 1 paddock. That’s probably the worst thing.
“As a driver like me – who puts his heart and sweat into the work, to do everything perfect before I get to the track – when you turn up and you see somebody looking at his check-in on Monday, it’s quite tough. And I’ve seen that in the past.”
Ocon Hails Haas’ fighting mentality
Since the team’s debut on the grid in 2016, Haas has been one of the smallest outfits in the paddock in terms of budget.
Yet, Ocon, who has only been with the team since December last year, and has worked with teams like Mercedes in the past, was surprised by how innovative and steadfast the team is.
“Now, I’m not going to say everything’s perfect. There are things that we need to improve, obviously. But we have a very solid base to work on since I joined, and we are moving forward. And I’m glad with the way it’s going,” Ocon continued.
“Designing a steering wheel with a double clutch, it took them a month, which was ridiculous.
“I was incredibly surprised with that, and I’ve never seen any other team do that, even the big ones that I worked with. Normally it takes a lot of time for that to come.
“We were claimed to be the smallest team. We are. But, you know, some of these reactions are top class.”
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