Haas boss Ayao Komatsu has conceded that Esteban Ocon’s first season with the team fell short of expectations, while stressing that the responsibility does not sit solely with the driver.
Ocon arrived at Haas for the 2025 Formula 1 season after leaving Alpine, bringing a decade of experience to a line-up completed by rookie Oliver Bearman.
On paper, the Frenchman was expected to lead the team. Instead, Bearman finished the year ahead on points, 41 to 38, and also held the upper hand in Qualifying.
The trend became clearer as the season went on. Bearman’s form strengthened, while Ocon’s performances fluctuated.
The French driver often expressed frustration with the car, particularly its braking behaviour.
Internally, Haas felt those issues were not universally shared, as Bearman did not struggle in the same way.
Speaking openly about the season, Komatsu admitted that the end result was disappointing.
“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.
“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.”
Not just Ocon’s fault – says Komatsu
Komatsu was quick to underline that the picture was more complex than a simple comparison between drivers.
“And obviously, it’s not totally his fault, it’s 50-50, right? Sometimes it’s the team, we couldn’t give him the car that he was comfortable [with], especially in qualifying.
“And then some circuits, that’s got exaggerated much more than other circuits. Look at Baku, you know, he really wasn’t happy with certain braking performance, then he was miles off in the qualifying pace.
“Yes, Baku happened to be one of Ollie’s strongest circuits, but we didn’t expect Esteban’s worst day to be so far off.”
According to Komatsu, there was no single flaw or defining issue behind Ocon’s struggles.
“But again, there’s not one reason, there’s not just a driver, there’s not just a team, and then each instance is different.
“So there’s no common underlying factor, there’s no [silver] bullet; it’s just a process, how we work together to get the bottom of it so much quicker and then put things in place for next race.
“That’s the bit I feel we – all of us together, team and driver – didn’t do it very well last year, because I really felt like we should have got on top of that quicker.”
On the up during the final race weekend in 2025
The inconsistency was summed up by Ocon’s weekend at the Abu Dhabi season finale.
After a difficult Friday, he spoke candidly to Canal+ about his struggles.
“There’s a lot of instability,” Ocon said. “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 that, Ocon responded strongly.
He edged Bearman in Qualifying to reach Q3 and went on to finish seventh in the race.
Komatsu pointed to that turnaround as evidence of Ocon’s underlying ability.
“Look at Abu Dhabi on Friday, he was completely off the pace, like four tenths off Ollie; Saturday, bang, he was on the pace,” he said.
“Again, it’s not just one big [silver] bullet, it’s a few – I wouldn’t say little things, but I could even say little things, few things that really trigger, let’s say, a snowball effect.
“And then we’ve really got to get on top of those things quicker, because Esteban’s potential is clear.
“If you look at Abu Dhabi, what he can do on Saturday, Sunday, coming off the back of a very poor Friday, that’s the talent he has, that’s the capability he has.
“And then we’ve got to harness that, we’ve got to make sure we use that, because we really need two drivers this year. I mean, we needed both of them last year, but we need more this year.”
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