Oliver Bearman's Breakout 2025 Season Poses Significant Challenge to Veteran Esteban Ocon at Haas.

Entering the 2025 Formula 1 season, expectations for Esteban Ocon at Haas were clear and confidently articulated by team owner Gene Haas himself. "Esteban’s proved himself in the teams he’s raced for as someone who’s continually in the mix and scoring points," Haas stated, signaling Ocon’s role as the experienced spearhead for the American outfit. The 2025 campaign marked Ocon’s ninth season in Formula 1, his eighth as a full-time competitor, bringing a wealth of experience from stints with Force India, Racing Point, Renault, and Alpine, including a memorable Grand Prix victory at the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix. His arrival at Haas, paired with the promising yet largely unproven Ferrari protégé Oliver Bearman, was intended to provide a stable and competitive foundation for the team’s ambitions. Bearman, a product of the esteemed Ferrari Driver Academy, had impressed in junior categories and during select F1 outings, but a full season presented a significant step up.

Ocon’s integration into the Haas F1 Team also saw him paired with new race engineer Laura Mueller, formerly a performance engineer within the team, marking a fresh start for the Frenchman. However, the initial phase of the season quickly tempered expectations. The new VF-25 chassis proved to be a difficult package from the outset, particularly evident at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne. Ocon struggled significantly, qualifying a lowly 19th, with both Haas cars propping up the field on the grid and ultimately under the chequered flag, indicating a fundamental lack of pace compared to their rivals.

Despite the challenging start, glimmers of the VF-25’s potential, and Ocon’s ability, occasionally emerged. The Chinese Grand Prix offered a notable highlight when Ocon managed to steer his car to a fifth-place finish. This strong result, however, came with a caveat, as he inherited the position following the disqualification of both Ferrari cars due to technical infringements. This incident underscored the car’s potential on certain tracks or under specific circumstances, but also highlighted that outright pace was still a significant hurdle for the team.

Following the Chinese Grand Prix, Haas’s form remained largely inconsistent, mirroring the fluctuating performance that has often characterized the team’s history in Formula 1. Ocon’s own performances alternated between frustrating Q1 exits and more encouraging appearances in the final qualifying segment, Q3, at events like the Miami Grand Prix and the prestigious Monaco Grand Prix. A rare error for the Frenchman saw him crash out of qualifying in Bahrain, further illustrating the fine margins and challenges he faced in extracting maximum performance from the VF-25. As the Formula 1 season reached its traditional summer break, Ocon had accumulated a respectable 27 points, establishing a significant lead over his rookie teammate, Bearman, who had managed eight points. Furthermore, Ocon held a clear advantage in the qualifying head-to-head, out-qualifying Bearman in seven of the first ten rounds, compared to Bearman’s three.

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However, the narrative of the 2025 season underwent a dramatic shift in the latter half, particularly following the Spanish Grand Prix. From this point onwards, Oliver Bearman’s performance began a steep upward trajectory, demonstrating a remarkable adaptation and consistent improvement. The statistical shift was stark: while Ocon had held a 7-3 qualifying advantage up to the Spanish round, he was subsequently out-qualified by Bearman in 15 of the remaining 20 events. This dramatic reversal saw the one-time Grand Prix winner struggle increasingly to extract optimum performance from his machinery, a challenge that appeared to worsen as the season progressed.

Ocon’s growing dissatisfaction with the VF-25’s characteristics became increasingly public and pronounced. He cited significant issues, particularly with the car’s behavior under braking, which he found fundamentally destabilizing. This culminated in a candid interview with Canal+ during the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix weekend, where Ocon expressed profound frustration. "I felt like a rookie who’s never driven an F1 car," he admitted, conveying the extent of his struggles. He elaborated on the car’s inherent instability, stating, "There’s a lot of instability. I feel like I can’t drive anymore, I can’t put a lap together anymore. It’s been unmanageable for many races." Ocon attributed these difficulties to a fundamental incompatibility between the car’s setup and his driving style: "We can’t solve the issues and it doesn’t fit my driving style, so… We’re just slow. We’re very, very far from where we should be."

This public assessment from Ocon prompted a direct response from Haas Team Principal Ayao Komatsu, who offered a contrasting perspective on the source of the issues. Komatsu subtly but firmly indicated that the root of the problem might lie more with Ocon’s driving style than solely with the car’s inherent characteristics. He highlighted the team’s perplexity in addressing Ocon’s specific complaints, especially given that his rookie teammate, Oliver Bearman, was seemingly able to handle the same car specification without encountering the same profound difficulties. Komatsu’s advice to Ocon was pragmatic: "The best chance is for you to drive around it, find a way to drive around it," suggesting that the onus was on the driver to adapt to the car’s peculiarities.

The impact of this divergence in performance and driving styles was evident in the post-summer break points tally. While Ocon managed to add only 11 points to his season total, Bearman’s burgeoning form saw him collect an impressive 33 points during the same period. This late-season surge allowed Bearman to overhaul his more experienced teammate, finishing the 2025 season three points ahead of Ocon in the drivers’ championship standings. For Ocon, a veteran with a Grand Prix victory to his name, being outperformed by a rookie teammate was, as he openly admitted, "difficult to swallow."

Looking ahead to the 2026 season, the implications for Esteban Ocon are substantial. The upcoming campaign will be pivotal for him to reassert his value, not only as a driver capable of leading Haas with his experience but also as one who can consistently score points and demonstrate adaptability. The challenge, however, is set to intensify, as Bearman, now with a full season of Formula 1 under his belt and a clear upward trajectory in performance, is widely expected to be even stronger.

Despite the on-track struggles against his teammate, Ocon did manage to defy a long-standing, arguably undeserved, reputation for sometimes contentious relationships with his teammates. Throughout 2025, he proved to be a committed team player at Haas. He publicly declared finding a "healthier environment" compared to his previous stint at Alpine and emphasized having the "best relationship out of all the team-mates I had" with Bearman. A particularly telling incident occurred during the Belgian Grand Prix, where Ocon, struggling significantly on a low-downforce setup in the wet conditions, voluntarily allowed his teammate to pass. Komatsu lauded this display of sportsmanship, confirming, "I didn’t even have to give a team order. Esteban let Ollie pass by himself. That’s the answer [to questions about Ocon’s reputation]."

Ultimately, while Ocon’s character as a team player received positive validation, his primary objective for the 2026 season will be to rediscover the quick and consistent pace that has defined the majority of his Formula 1 career. The 2025 season, marked by unexpected challenges from a rapidly ascending rookie, has undoubtedly placed a renewed focus on his ability to adapt and perform under pressure.

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Jonas Leo: Jonas Leo is a passionate motorsport journalist and lifelong Formula 1 enthusiast. With a sharp eye for race strategy and driver performance, he brings readers closer to the world of Grand Prix racing through in-depth analysis, breaking news, and exclusive paddock insights. Jonas has covered everything from preseason testing to dramatic title deciders, capturing the emotion and precision that define modern F1. When he’s not tracking lap times or pit stop tactics, he enjoys exploring classic racing archives and writing about the evolution of F1 technology.

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