A real curiosity of the 2025 F1 season, the Haas-Esteban Ocon team could surprise. Here are several reasons to believe it.
This is one of the changes for the next Formula 1 season: Esteban Ocon will no longer play under the colors of Alpine but with those of Haas F1 Team. Tired of the poor performances of the French team, but also of the lack of consideration towards him, the Norman is launching a new challenge in his career with the hope of attracting the attention of the big teams. The first Grand Prix winning driver to join Haas, he will also try to take his new team to a new level, by installing it comfortably in the middle of the table. There are reasons to hope.
Esteban Ocon will be the leader of Haas F1 Team, a first in his career
Unlike his years at Renault and Alpine, Esteban Ocon will now be the headliner of the Haas F1 Team project, a first since his debut in the premier category of motorsport. As a result, his opinion will be taken into greater account by the American team, which has already implemented several adjustments to facilitate communication between the driver and the team. “There really is one person who decides, and that plays an important role in many technical choices. There are not 36,000 people at the top asking for validation”he confided a few weeks ago, before tackling Alpine: “We don’t find ourselves in a situation where we ask for something and we answer: ‘It’s not done because the guy went on vacation.’ »
The 2021 Hungarian F1 GP winner has often expressed his annoyance at the lack of feedback from his former team: “At certain times, when we made technical remarks, there was never any response. Many things have unfortunately fallen by the wayside, without being seen or taken seriously. » A priori, this should not be the case at Haas. Which could allow him to flourish and fully show the extent of his talent.
The Toyota advantage
To achieve this, Esteban Ocon will pay attention to the Haas F1 – Toyota marriage. On Friday, the large Japanese automobile group formalized a collaboration with its American counterpart on a technical partnership – development, design and manufacturing – and training of young drivers, without becoming a manufacturer. As a result, Haas will be able to continue to collaborate with Ferrari while benefiting from the immense expertise of Toyota, which has already proven itself in the WRC and in endurance.
A partnership that strengthens the rise of Haas. This aspect played a major role in the signing of Esteban Ocon, courted by Williams and Audi. Furthermore, with this contract, Haas frees itself a little more from the supervision of Ferrari, particularly with regard to its choice of drivers. Not necessarily a bad thing for Esteban Ocon, who does not come from the Scuderia fold.
Ayao Komatsu brought serenity to Haas F1
Haas F1 Team owes this progress largely to Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal since the start of 2024. The Japanese quickly restored order within the team, marked by the sudden end of the Gunther Steiner era.
Beyond the atmosphere, it is especially in terms of results that Haas has improved considerably. This season, the team is fighting with Racing Bulls for sixth place in the constructors’ standings in F1 2024. It has already collected 31 points, 19 more than the entire previous season. With a little success, Haas could even achieve its best season since 2018. Enough to restore confidence to a team often mocked for its lack of results. With Esteban Ocon, the entity founded by Gene Haas could take a new step and, who knows, assert itself as a spoilsport at the top of the table. Get to work!
Having worked for WebGirondins, Daily Sports, beIN Sports and Quinze Mondial, I am currently working at Daily Mercato and We Sport. My passions? Diego Simeone’s hyper-defensive football, the Talent League and seeing Roman Reigns in action. My philosophy? Progress a little more every day and bring you the most complete information on each of my articles.
