Esteban Ocon was delighted to score points on Haas’ 200th race in Formula 1 thanks to a P9 result at the Canadian Grand Prix, with the Frenchman admitting that taking a risk on a one-stop strategy “paid off”.
Ocon had lined up in P14 on the grid in Montreal alongside team mate Ollie Bearman in P13, though the squad opted to split strategies by starting Ocon on the hard tyres while Bearman had bolted on the medium compound.
Both drivers embarked on a one-stop plan – but this seemed to play out better for Ocon, who ran a long opening stint before switching to the medium tyres and making them last to the chequered flag to secure ninth place.
“[I’m] very pleased, very pleased with the whole work that the team did this weekend,” the 28-year-old reflected after the race. “I think we maximised the potential.
“It was not clear-cut that that strategy was going to be better before the race, but it paid off to take the risk and we managed to deliver a very solid one, solid laps in clean air, which was important so we overcut quite a lot of cars.
“And then we brought the car home to seal the position at the end with the Safety Car, so quite a [hard] race but very good nevertheless.”
When asked how good it had felt to gain from taking that strategy gamble – particularly given the fine margins at play in the midfield battle – Ocon responded: “Yeah, it’s a good reward to the team, to get something out of our 200th race.
“Obviously it is important to seal every opportunity that there is out there, because they don’t come all the time, and this weekend we did so [I’m] very pleased with that.”
For Bearman it proved to be a more frustrating afternoon at the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve, with the Briton struggling to make ground after finding himself stuck in traffic.
But while ending the race in P11 meant that he just missed out on points, Bearman felt that there were still positives to take in terms of the pace of the VF-25.
“I think honestly we had a bit more pace in the car today, just with the strategy we ended up stuck in the traffic with the people starting on the hard tyre, and with the DRS train it’s really, really impossible to overtake,” the 20-year-old conceded.
“We had a lot more in the car and once I got free air I had good pace, but I spent the whole race stuck in the DRS and it’s difficult to overtake. [I’m] happy, but there could have been a bit more today.”
Pushed on whether it feels as if Haas are continuing to make progress in their understanding of the car, Bearman answered: “Yeah, I would say so.
“I think Fridays are still our weak point – we seem to be a bit less competitive on Fridays relative to the rest of the weekend, but I’m glad that the team have scored points this weekend and let’s keep pushing for the next one.”
Haas are currently in sixth place of the Teams’ Championship with a total of 28 points, putting their tally level with Racing Bulls in seventh.
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