– Haas came away empty-handed from the Formula 1 race in Budapest, Hungary. Both Oliver Bearman and Esteban Ocon were miles away from the points. While the Briton couldn’t find anything positive to take from the event, the Frenchman was pleased with the race dynamics with the new generation of cars.
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“Overall, it was just a terrible weekend from the first lap I drove until now,” said Bearman, who was penalized for ignoring blue flags and thus finished 19th in the race. “I couldn’t find any confidence, and it’s as if all this progress we’ve made over the past two events has perhaps been wiped out and we’re back to square one.”
“I don’t understand how we can go to Spa and have such a competitive feeling and confidence in the car, and then I come here and the car is an absolute nightmare to drive. We believe we understand why, and that’s important, but we need to thoroughly review things before the next race,” was the Briton’s harsh conclusion.
Bearman’s Struggle in Hungary
For Bearman, Hungary was a weekend to forget, also because the 21-year-old spun. “It was in Turn 2, that was the worst corner for me all weekend,” he explains. “I knew I was at full lock, I didn’t have enough steering angle to catch the car. It happened so suddenly, so yes, that’s just a sign of how difficult it is to drive today.”
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But why did Haas have absolutely no chance of getting near the top 10 in Hungary? “Well, we see that the car isn’t performing as it should, and I feel like I did a good job. I gave my maximum and tried to get the most out of the car, but the feeling was nothing like in Spa.”
Bearman goes into detail: “We’re measuring big differences in load values compared to this event and compared to the other cars. Yes, it’s the car. I mean, it was a terrible, terrible weekend, and it’s just a sign of how weak we are in terms of consistency.”
Lack of Balance Between the Haas Cars
“Because if it’s not me – which it was this weekend, and maybe one or two others – it’s Esteban’s car that suddenly lacks ten to fifteen points of downforce. So you just hope you get caught on the good side, and if you do, you have a decent weekend, and if not, it’s going to be a very, very long one. We’ve had that for a long time.”
While Bearman was frustrated, Ocon also looked for something positive from Hungary – such as the racing with the new Formula 1 cars compared to Silverstone and Spa. “Yes, it was nice,” the Frenchman describes the racing on a track where energy management was not the number one topic. “As for that side – that we can choose the gears we engage a bit more, and choose the driving style we want – it’s so much better. It reminds a bit of the old days.”
“So yes, this track is still my absolute favorite,” said the 29-year-old, who finished 16th. “I really love it. I had a smile from the beginning to the end of the weekend. So that’s cool.”
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Sudden Battle Against Aston Martin
But Ocon also sees problems at Haas and addresses them openly: “Obviously, we needed more performance from the car. There are many positive things to take away: We had the consistency back, the car was healthy all weekend, we managed to maintain the same performance from Friday through Saturday to Sunday and the same car balance and so on. So that was good.”
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“But ultimately, the Aston Martins are now another contender we have to fight with,” he clarifies. “And with tire wear in play, on our side, you struggle much more with a lot of sliding and all that. So as soon as we go into race mode, we struggle more with pace. And that shows the lack of grip we have.”
Ocon therefore focuses on the positive impressions he gathered in Hungary – especially the increased consistency: “Yes, that was definitely the biggest gain of the weekend on that side. Getting the car healthy and getting the maximum out of the car this weekend felt good. There are many things on my side that took a long time, but they are finally on my car now too, which I am very happy about.”
Haas Has a Lot of Work Ahead
Ocon’s statements simultaneously confirm Bearman’s assessment, who emphasized that at Haas, only one side of the garage manages to bring a car forward on the weekend. The Frenchman was satisfied with his team.
“So the team did a great job. We did the right work. Of course, we have to continue that, because there are still many things we don’t understand. We’ll see how that goes.”
Haas now has the task of ensuring that the cars on both sides of the garage are equally set up. According to Ocon, the team has not yet figured out why this imbalance exists: “No, because it also happened too early on Friday. It happened more on my side than on his.”
Bearman Frustrated, Ocon Shows Understanding
“But obviously it was a bit of a shock because it happened on his side this time too. And the team is still looking deep into the details of what exactly it could be. I don’t know exactly how it was for him on Saturday,” Ocon continued. “But on Friday, we clearly saw a lot of downforce on his side.”
“He had exactly the same comments that I had up to this race and up to Silverstone, let’s say. We know that this is an ongoing problem. Now, of course, we need a bit more understanding so that it doesn’t happen again.”
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