The last stop of the European triple header, the F1 Spanish GP, went badly for the MoneyGram Haas F1 Team. While Ollie Bearman finished 17th following a time penalty, his teammate Esteban Ocon came right ahead of him. The French driver’s race was highly affected by the safety car and the pit stop strategy of his team. Ocon explained what happened during the Sunday race in Spain and what his expectations are for the upcoming Canadian Grand Prix.
Choosing not to pit during the safety car period complicated Ocon’s race
Starting with softs from 16th place, Ocon pitted twice for medium tyres on laps 21 and 44 throughout the race. On lap 55, a yellow flag came out, and the safety car was deployed due to Kimi Antonelli’s engine failure. The young Italian’s Mercedes ended up in the gravel as it stopped working. Many teams used the yellow flag to their advantage and pitted their drivers. However, Ocon was among the ones who chose to stay out.
Towards the end of the race, Ocon’s used rubber could not hold back others with fresher and softer tyres. He finished in 16th position, right ahead of his teammate, Ollie Bearman.
Ocon explained that the team believed that it would be difficult to restart the race; therefore, they decided not to make a pit stop and rather stay out. The fight for the top ten became even harder for Ocon, with everyone on new tyres except him. Nevertheless, he stated that it was a gamble worth taking as points looked questionable beforehand.
“We tried to stay out, we knew it was going to be difficult to restart. But in case the safety car was going to be longer, in case there was another thing happening, it was worth a try.
“It was not easy, but we gave it a shot.”
The points were on the card before the safety car for Ocon at the F1 Spanish GP
Ocon expressed that there were moments in the Spanish Grand Prix where he felt he could score some points for his team. He elaborated that Haas had run longer to create a tyre offset at the end. The safety car ruined all that.
“Yes, they [the points] were [on the card], if that safety car didn’t come in at the end. Because I had a delayed strategy, I was coming basically nearer the top ten. I was about a second a lap quicker than all the guys in front.
“We delayed our first pit stop and we were on for a good race at the end. But that safety car basically disrupted it a little bit, so it ruined our chance of fighting at least for the other points.”
He added that their pace is also improving, even within a weekend. Ocon reflected that his pace in the Sunday Spanish race was better than his qualifying pace.
“I feel throughout yesterday we still lacked a little bit. But our race pace was definitely better than our quali pace, which is a bit sad because I think there was a bit more to play today for both of us.“
A time to reflect and progress
The triple header was intense for all the teams and drivers. The one-week break until the Canadian Grand Prix serves as a time for feedback and analysis of what went right and wrong. Ocon said that the team will have time to breathe after the triple header. Then, they will thoroughly review the Emilia-Romagna, Monaco, and Spanish weekends to come back stronger in Montreal.
Haas has a strength in the tracks that are more slow-speed corners rather than the longer and faster ones, according to Ocon. Nevertheless, the French driver noted that they improved their performance in the high-speed corner tracks.
“We will look at these three weeks, take the positive and draw some conclusions out of these three.
“I think there is a clear pattern which is quite positive for some tracks, a bit more difficult on others, but we will take the week to analyse and come back stronger in Canada.
“I think the good points are the strength we have in some of the tracks which are a bit more slow speed corners, and we struggled a little bit more on these kind of tracks with longer corners, fast, although we did improve.
“But as I said, big thanks to the team for keeping on pushing for these three weeks. Now we are going to be able to breathe a little bit, analyse what went on, and come back stronger in a race where hopefully we should perform well.”
Ocon is positive for the Canadian Grand Prix
The French driver is optimistic about the Canadian Grand Prix. He further admitted that they need to be careful and make sure of the critical straight line speed in Montreal. Though Haas has plenty to delve into and work on their performance, Ocon is positive that they will yield better results in Canada.
“Yes, I think we should be good in corners in Montreal. We need to see about straight line speed obviously, this is what we need to be sure of.
“Plenty of work and understanding to go for us, but I’m positive that we should be able to come back in a decent level of performance.”
Haas have a new competitor in Sauber
When asked about the quick pace of Nico Hülkenberg’s Sauber on Sunday in Spain, Ocon admitted not being aware of his outstanding result. He was surprised to hear that Hulkenberg finished P6 but ended up P5 due to Max Verstappen’s penalty. The French driver raced with the other Sauber, Gabriel Bortoleto, for most of the race.
After learning about Hülkenberg’s race result and witnessing Bortoleto’s pace firsthand throughout the race, he noted that Sauber’s new update in the Spanish weekend yielded this successful outcome. According to Ocon, Haas needs to pay attention to Sauber’s progressive updates and results, as well as their own upgrades.
“I don’t know where they finished actually.
“P5? Oh wow, okay. Very impressive.
“I think they had an update this weekend which looked very strong. I was with Gabriel Bortoletto for most of the race, he was quick as well. So yes, we need to watch out for them too.”
