Ocon explains why he took the challenge to ditch Alpine for Haas
F1 NewsThursday, 25 July 2024 at 18:03
Ahead of this weekend's Belgian Grand Prix, Esteban Ocon explained his decision to depart Alpine at the end of this season to join Haas and with it become Oli Bearman's teammate in 2025.
The prospect of 'Ocon-to-Haas' has wafted in the paddock for some time, thus when the deal was announced this past week it did not break the internet or stun Formula 1. But it is a big move for the 27-year-old Frenchman, away from a 'works' team to relative minnows.
But Alpine is crumbling, with more jumping ship than looking to get on board of a leaderless and rudderless F1 team. Steered by the clueless Luca de Meo who appears to single-handedly destroying one of motorsport's greatest racing organisations, with a storied history.
By Ocon's own admission, the talks with Haas and other teams began a year or so ago: "There's been a lot of conversation going around the paddock. This conversation started quite a long time ago, already midseason of 2023. That's really when things started, but Ayao Komatsu [Haas F1 Team Principal] really convinced me with his words."
Ocon: Ayao is a person that has a lot of experience in Formula 1
"I worked with Ayao in my first steps into Formula 1," recalled Ocon. "When I was testing for the first time, ten years ago, and I even know him for a lot longer than that. So when we sat down for the first time, he explained to me about his plans going forward.
"They were very clear, they have a clear target, which is humble in terms of not showing off. It's what I like, as well. They have very clear plans to improve from where they are now and they're already starting that. As you can see this year, they've been clearly improving their performance, the car itself. And the plans are quite big and quite impressive looking forward.
"The decision for me was was was quite clear quite a long time ago, that I wanted a new challenge to write for my story. Five years in F1 with the same team is a long time. In Formula 1 terms, we've achieved good things we've achieved, but things are a little bit more difficult at times.
"It was a decision I'm very happy with, and I'm very excited. It's a great challenge, a new adventure for me. After five years with this team, I look forward to finishing the season on a high, as best as I can for the team and then starting the Haas collaboration next year," said Ocon.
The change from a so-called 'big team' to the relative minnows that Haas are, does not perturb the Frenchman: "I've had experience at both ends. Racing Force India, back then working with Mercedes later on and working here. Now I will be working with Hass in the future. They are doing an incredible job at the moment.
"There are about three hundred working there so far, but they are doing better than teams with double, triple, and quadruple the size, which is remarkable. The plans going forward are also very appealing. So, yeah, I look forward to it.
Ocon: To me, it was a no-brainer to take that decision
"I'm very happy with my choice," Insisted Ocon. "Very happy with how we are going to move forward. Haas are competitors. They want to move forward. I am a competitor, I want to be moving forward and improving every time I step in the car. We are very much in line with our thought process," he acknowledged.
Ocon will be teammate to highly-rated rookie Oliver Bearman. The Ferrari-backed youngster will embark on his F1 rookie season in 2025, as Maranello develop him for a possible F1 seat at the Scuderia in the future.
The par have been introduced according to Ocon: "I've spoken to Oli in Budapest, probably the first time that we met. He is a very young and exciting prospect in Formula 1. Many people are saying that he's going to be a future F1 world champion. I can't wait to be teaming up with him. He's going to bring also fresh blood into the team new ideas."
As for 'mentoring' the Briton, Ocon said: "I don't think Oli needs my help on anything. He probably has more experience with the team than I will have next year. He's been driving a lot, you know, in FP1 and in testing as well.
"I'm probably gonna have to ask him a lot more things than tips I will give him tips. We're just going to be very open on the whole situation, trying to get the team in the right technical way, very early on. I'm also going to try and add to the team, and I'm sure our collaboration is going to be great to lead this team forward and hopefully going where we want to go."
As for his final season in Alpine colours, Ocon lamented: "This season has been frustrating is not a secret to anyone, no one's happy inside the team, to where we are. And there hasn't been enough of an improvement on some terms, on some technical issues that we had years ago."
Alpine crumbling under very bad management from the very top of Renault
Ocon continued: "I was referring to that circle of technical development and improvements. We haven't been on top of that, and we are facing the issues that we had already three years ago, with that current car, which is not possible in terms of Formula 1 World.
"I wish this team the best. It's a team that will forever stay in my heart. We've achieved together my first podium, my first win.
"It's always going to remain special to my heart. I wish them the best for the future. But before that, we still have half the season to finish. And I hope that I can do my best to finish on a high with this team," insisted Ocon.
Finally, the one that might've been for him aka Mercedes. In the wake of Lewis Hamilton's departure to join Ferrari in 2025, a seat became available in the team led by his early career backer and mentor Toto Wolff prompting speculation he might be there man. But clearly not.
When pressed on missing out on Mercedes, Ocon was adamant: "I'm very happy with my choice. I'm not going to speak about names or which teams. There were many discussions with many different teams since 2023.
With Bearman signed first and now Ocon, Haas F1 Team's driver line-up for 2025 is set. This means the current drivers, namely long-serving Kevin Magnussen will be looking for employment elsewhere, while Nico Hulkenberg announced last month he had signed for Sauber.
(Reporting by Agnes Carlier)
Big Question: Is Esteban Ocon the right man for Haas F1 Team?
Latest News
Loading
