Esteban Ocon has shared a bullish pre-season outlook for Haas, believing that they have the potential “to be fighting towards the front” under F1’s new regulations – and could therefore be a “dangerous” force.
Haas, who enter the 2026 campaign with increased support from Japanese automotive giants Toyota, became the latest team to present their new livery on Monday, having released digital renders via social media.
Ayao Komatsu’s squad are looking to take the next step after going from the foot of the Teams’ Championship in 2023 to much more respectable P7 and P8 finishes over the first two years of his tenure as Team Principal.
Asked for the stand-out feelings ahead of the new season, which marks his second at Haas, Ocon said: “I’m excited about this year. This team is really growing, and this team is learning a lot.
“Since I arrived, there have been a lot of great things that have happened. We’re growing the team and welcoming more partners, and it’s very serious how we’re going racing into this year.
“I really hope, and I trust that this team will give us a great tool to be fighting towards the front, and towards the points. And if that’s the case, I think for sure we will be dangerous.”
As for just how big the 2026 regulations reset is for Haas and the rest of the F1 field to digest, the Frenchman added: “This is definitely the biggest rule change I’ve ever faced.
“The first time I drove a Formula 1 car was in the V8 era, then we went to a hybrid system, where I drove one day in Valencia back then and went to Abu Dhabi for FP1. It was probably a similar change to what we’ll face now, but we need to forget everything that has happened before.
“We need to learn everything new again, so I think the experience helps to adapt quickly, but we need to adapt everything. All of our senses, how we feel, we’ll need to think a lot more while driving about what to do, to go quicker.”
Ocon’s team mate, Ollie Bearman, is similarly eager to get started and find out how Haas compare to the competition – while stressing how important it will be to make the most of any early-season opportunities.
“It’s impossible to gauge where we’re going to be right now,” he said. “Everything I’m seeing from the team is positive, but we don’t know how we stack up, and we won’t know until Qualifying in Australia.
“Even then, I feel like in the first few races reliability is going to be playing a big factor. There are going to be teams and people making mistakes with these new regulations. It’s going to be tough to establish a true pecking order.”
In terms of how he is dealing with a technical overhaul just one year into his full F1 career, the Briton commented: “I’m heading into a regulation change for the first time in my life, really.
“Last year was a big step for me, but I think even from the beginning, we knew that if we put the car in the right window, we were still going to be able to fight for points, and we had an idea of the competitiveness of the car.
“That lack of knowledge heading into 2026 is good and bad, as on one side I feel like we can really have an impact straight away, but also it’s horrible not knowing.
“I would like to skip forward six months to see where we are, but I’m going to be giving it everything to make sure that where we are is as high up as possible.”
.webp?ssl=1&description=Esteban%20Ocon%20thinks%20Haas%20can%20be%20%E2%80%98dangerous%E2%80%99%20in%202026%20as%20Ollie%20Bearman%20points%20to%20%E2%80%98big%20factor%E2%80%99%20for%20all%20teams){kind=link}