Haas drivers Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman have delivered conflicting reviews of F1’s new cars at the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix.
Haas left pre-season testing in Bahrain in the running for having the fifth fastest car behind the leading teams, the VF-26 a significant step forward over its predecessor.
But Australia painted a different picture, both cars slipping out of the top ten in Friday’s practice sessions, leaving the American outfit with work to do.
The drivability of the new cars remains a contentious issue, with Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman delivering conflicting verdicts.
Ocon spoke of the level of information required and needed,
“[There is] a lot going on,” he said to media, including Motorsport Week.
“There’s a lot of details and complications. To be honest, my head is going to explode right now with how much information there is. Its a lot to take, but that’s what we have to do as drivers.
“It’s been interesting to go on a different track to see how the car feels. In terms of balance, its been here and there pretty much, with little detail with need to improve again.”
Yet, despite the increased importance of certain aspects, Ocon reminded that teams and drivers cannot lose sight of the fundamentals of a weekend’s preparation.
Haas uncertain of its place in competitive order
Ocon offered early insight into Haas’ preparations for the Australian GP, confident the team can secure a strong result at the first race of the season.
“Luckily, our car feels ok in terms of balance,” he said.
“There are little details to fix, but we’re not miles off. If it has been last year’s car, it would have been very different and much more difficult.
“So, we have a bit more room to play with, or focusing on one thing which is quite good. But we still can’t forget the rest you know. Feeling comfortable in the car, getting maximum grip with the tires. So we need to focus on the basics really.”
“But in terms of energy delivery, that’s where we need to obviously optimise a lot more,” he added. “There’s a lot to gain on that side and its not easy to drive around at the moment. So, that’s all going to be up [for] grabs, if we manage to maximise with the engineers and with the driving as well. We’ll see how it goes tomorrow.”
“It’s only Friday though,” he pointed out. “It’s the first day. The conditions are great, blue sky, yesterday there was a bit of wind but not too much. Let’s wait and see. Let’s do a few more tracks in the year and see. Let’s go into tomorrow first and lets’ see how that goes.”
Oliver Bearman contradiction
But in a direct contradiction to his teammate, Oliver Bearman said his experience of driving the cars was self-explanatory.
“I think so, but by the same token, a lot of it does it itself, if you know what I mean, the software is not silly,” he said when asked if the driver could make a difference in the new cars.
“We kind of just drive the car, we have clear indications on what to do.
“Of course, it’s important to make clear what you’re feeling, what feels like it’s working, what’s not working, but Ferrari have done an excellent job giving us that kind of information and knowledge about the power unit strategy and everything, and we trust them that that’s the optimum.
“I don’t think we can make a huge amount of difference as drivers, honestly, but it will be important to start on the right foot and be consistent with the driving as well, because that’s also very important for the software.”
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