Ocon admits ‘really aggressive strategy’ did not pay off in Baku as Bearman says ‘no excuse’ for errors

Haas did not manage to score any points in Azerbaijan, with Ollie Bearman the higher placed of their two drivers in 12th. Esteban Ocon followed him home in 14th after an eventful race that saw the Frenchman suffer contact off the line.

Ocon’s weekend had already been compromised by a disqualification in Qualifying for a technical infringement, meaning he started from last. A good getaway saw him fighting with Nico Hulkenberg, but unfortunately the duo collided.

That led to an immediate pit stop due to a puncture, and with the Safety Car out after Oscar Piastri’s crash, Haas saw an opportunity to try something different. Having started on the hard tyre, Ocon was fitted with some mediums before coming back in the next lap for more hards.

That gave him 49 laps to try and survive – and thrive – on the C4 compound. He was asked afterwards whether the early collision hampered his race.

“Luckily it didn’t – I think for both our races. At least I didn’t have heavy damage,” he explained. “It was just a small touch, and it touched the wheels mainly, which was a good thing.

“It was a good start; we tried a really aggressive strategy, which at the end made me lose out quite a lot. So, a bit of a shame on that part. We will review – it has been a difficult weekend for us.

“I think there are a lot of things we can improve for next weekend and this is what we will look out for in Singapore.”

Haas had looked fast at points in practice, with both drivers flirting with the top 10. As such, hopes had been high going into Qualifying, only for Ocon to exit in Q1 before Bearman crashed out in Q2. Those were just the latest in a series of issues for Haas, which Ocon wants to see rectified moving forwards.

“Yesterday [we had] a brake problem, in Monza we had an issue with the front end of the car really that was quite big. So, we just need to enter weekends and have a clean sweep and no issues, and a healthy weekend really. This is what we are all asking for.”

As for Bearman, he knew that Q2 crash was costly as it meant a P15 starting slot on a day where there was only one race retiree, and limited options to move forward.

“Qualifying was tough this weekend; I did a mistake in Q2 that meant I didn’t put a lap on the board. Of course, it was very tricky conditions but that is no excuse. So yeah, just need some improvements [needed] for Singapore,” was his take.

“It was a good race overall, we made a good comeback, had really good pace. But starting 15th, lost a few places on the early laps with the Safety Car restart and after that I was really stuck.

“In the first stint, I lost a lot of time stuck behind [Franco] Colapinto and [Lance] Stroll, and after that it was really damage limitation. The car was quick but I couldn’t do much with it.”

Haas head to Singapore sitting ninth in the standings, 11 points behind Kick Sauber.