Ayao Komatsu, Haas F1 Team Principal, has laid down a clear challenge for Esteban Ocon as the team prepares for the 2026 Formula 1 season. Following a debut year with the American team that fell short of expectations, the French driver faces a critical turning point in his career. Speaking to a select group of media, the Japanese engineer emphasised that while the team remains confident in Ocon, the time for potential must now translate into consistent results.
Komatsu analyses Ocon’s difficult 2025 F1 season
Ocon joined the Haas F1 team in 2025 after a five-season stint with Alpine, bringing a lot of experience and a Grand Prix victory to the team. However, Ocon failed to deliver the results that Haas was anticipating for the 2025 season. The Frenchman concluded the 2025 season in 15th place in the Drivers’ Championship with 38 points.
This result saw him outperformed by his rookie teammate, Ollie Bearman, who secured 13th place. The Brit also delivered Haas’ joint best result with a P4 in Mexico.
Komatsu admitted that neither the driver nor the Haas team felt satisfied with the sporting outcomes of the previous F1 term. He noted that while Bearman proved to be a remarkable talent, a driver with a decade of Formula 1 experience is expected to lead from the front.
He specifically pointed to struggles with qualifying pace and braking performance, showcasing Ocon’s difficulties in Baku as a low point where he was significantly behind his younger teammate on one-lap speed.
“If you look purely at a sporting result, without going into details, for sure nobody is satisfied with Esteban’s sporting result last year.
“He’s a team mate against a rookie – yes, an amazing rookie, but nonetheless he’s got 10 years of F1 under his belt. He’s a race winner, he’s a podium finisher, so we expected more from him.
“Look at Baku – he really wasn’t happy with the braking performance and he was miles off in the Qualifying pace. Yes, Baku happened to be one of Ollie’s strongest circuits, but we didn’t expect Esteban to be so far off.”
Improving the working relationship
Despite the frustrations of 2025, the winter break provided a vital opportunity for a reset. Komatsu revealed that the Haas F1 team engaged in extensive discussions with Ocon to align their goals and expectations. This reset aimed to ensure that the Frenchman fully understands the resources and the team’s concept of prioritisation.
“We’ve had a very good ongoing talk over the winter, preparing for this pre-season, and then we understand each other.
“He’s totally clear on what our team is expecting of him, and also I’m totally clear on what he needs from the team, so we cleared everything and set everything up before the Barcelona Shakedown, so I’m really happy with that.
“I think he understands who we are in terms of size of the team, the resource and how we need to prioritise, but also he understood the way of working a bit better ahead of the Barcelona testing, especially in a team like us, so I’m sure he can make more [of a] contribution this year.”
The results from the recent Barcelona shakedown suggest a step forward. Komatsu observed progress in how Ocon approached testing, highlighting a more collaborative atmosphere within the garage.
Additionally, Ocon and Bearman are providing very similar feedback on the new car, which helps the team to accelerate development under the new regulations.
“And then the way he approached the Barcelona test, again, absolutely progressed, so we’re working better together as a team. Esteban and Ollie are working well together – we’ve got to [work] better together to make progress as quickly as possible.
“At some of the testing we did, Esteban and Ollie’s feedback was very, very similar which is really nice in these brand-new regulations.”
Komatsu’s vision for the 2026 F1 performance
Haas management believes Ocon still has the necessary speed to succeed. Komatsu noted that during the 2025 Abu Dhabi weekend, Ocon managed to turn a poor start on Friday into a seventh-place finish on Sunday.
As Komatsu explained, for the 2026 season the Haas F1 team wants to identify and fix small issues faster so they don’t ruin an entire race weekend.
As the season progresses, Haas needs both drivers to contribute equally to move up the standings. Komatsu emphasised that having two high-performing drivers is the only way for the team to make real progress this year.
“Look at Abu Dhabi – on Friday he was completely off the pace, but [on Saturday] he was on the pace. Again, it’s not just one big thing – I would say it’s a few things that really trigger the snowball effect, and we really have got to get on top of those things quicker because Esteban’s potential is clear.
“If you look at Abu Dhabi and what he could do on Saturday [make it to Q3] and Sunday [where he finished P7 and held off Lewis Hamilton], coming off the back of a poor Friday, that’s the talent he has and that’s the capability he has, and we’ve got to harness that. We’ve got to make sure we use that, because we really need two drivers this year – we needed it last year, but we need more this year.”
