Esteban Ocon has added another F1 team to his CV after joining Haas and is already stunned by the job the American crew have done to ease his transition from Alpine.
The 28-year-old will race for his fifth team on the grid when the lights go out to kick off the 2025 Australian Grand Prix and the Formula 1 season on March 16. Ocon made his F1 debut for Manor in 2016 and enjoyed spells at Force India, Renault and Alpine before joining Haas.
Haas signed Ocon to a £6.5m-a-season, two-year contract last July to finalise their entirely new driver line-up beside Oliver Bearman. Ocon will guide Haas as the 19-year-old embarks on the Briton’s first full season after three cameo races in 2024 lost Bearman the rookie tag.
Haas stun Esteban Ocon by redesigning their steering wheel for his arrival from Alpine
Ocon joins Haas with a wealth of experience the American crew will rely on as Bearman gets used to being a full-time driver having acted as a reserve in 2024. The Evreux native has 156 F1 race starts plus one win in his tally after Ocon won Alpine the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix.
But in order to feel at home in the VF-25 when the 2025 season gets going at the Australian Grand Prix, Ocon asked Haas to redesign their steering wheel due to the differences he saw from Alpine’s wheel. Ocon first drove a Haas car at the 2024 post-season test in Abu Dhabi.
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One of the major aspects Ocon asked Haas to redesign on their steering wheel was to move to having two clutch levers instead of one. So, the four-time podium finisher was astounded when Haas showed Ocon their new wheel in a time frame Alpine could never have realised.
Ocon said about Haas’ new steering wheel before F1 75 at The O2 in London: “This required a complete redesign because it is a big change but it went perfectly, just as desired.
“I’m not used to something like that! Anywhere else it would have taken eight or 10 months but they did it in a month and a half!”
Esteban Ocon had his first drive in the VF-25 at Haas’ Silverstone shakedown
Ocon got to try out Haas’ new steering wheel during a filming day at Silverstone on Sunday, with the American squad holding a shakedown of the VF-25 ahead of unveiling the livery at F1 75 this Tuesday. Bearman will drive the VF-25 for the first time in Bahrain next Monday.
Haas will offer Bearman the chance to try his car for the 2025 season ahead of the only pre-season test at the Bahrain Grand Prix circuit across February 26, 27 and 28. Yet unlike Ocon, Bearman is already familiar with Haas after doing six FP1 appearances and two Grands Prix.
Getting an early feeling for how the VF-25 handles with the filming day at Silverstone will let Ocon focus more on preparing Haas’ car for when racing starts over getting up to speed with their systems. Ocon’s feedback on the changes to the steering wheel was also key for Haas.
Had it been Bearman instead of Ocon who completed their shakedown at Silverstone, Haas would not have known if their new steering wheel suited the Frenchman until they were in Bahrain. This way, they saved a week to make any possible changes Ocon may have needed.
