How Ocon contributed to a "big day" for Haas with points in Mexico
Oliver Bearman stole the headlines but his team mate scored also useful points
He may have been overshadowed by the superb fourth place in Mexico for Ollie Bearman, but Esteban Ocon gave his Haas team a further boost with P9, contributing to a two-point advantage over rivals Sauber.
The Frenchman was quicker than Bearman in FP2 and FP3 – admittedly the rookie had lost track time by missing FP1 – and was then an encouraging P5 in Q1, providing further proof that the Austin upgrade package had paid off.
Alas in Q2 he was wrongfooted by the presence of Yuki Tsunoda and Charles Leclerc, and ended up in a frustrated 12th on the grid.
Hit by Fernando Alonso on the first lap, he was then held up by Tsunoda, complaining of a “dangerous defence” by the Red Bull driver.
Along the way Ocon helped Bearman by briefly keeping Oscar Piastri behind, before ultimately moving up three spots from where he started.
“As a whole it’s fantastic for the team, and really shows that we had a great car pace this weekend,” he said when I asked about his race.
“I really tried to maximise the pace we had. We got unlucky with quite a lot of things. The start, I got touched, I got stuck behind Yuki who was defending like I’ve never seen!
“I defended on Oscar, trying to protect Ollie. I made him lose quite a few seconds with that fight, between four to six, so that was quite good.
“Overall, the car was working super well. I’m happy with our performance this weekend and our learning. Obviously, it didn’t smile to us, the luck, every session. But I think we can be pleased with what we did.”
The Tsunoda defence came a race after the Japanese driver upset Bearman in Austin.
“He moved under braking, that was the point,” said Ocon. “And unfortunately, he was the one also giving me a shit quali, which was not his fault, to be fair. So yeah, I always seem to catch him in the wrong place, the wrong time.
“And basically, that damaged our race, because we must have lost eight or nine seconds stuck behind him in that first stint, and I couldn’t get by. And once we cleared him, then we could stretch our legs. And it was much better. But it was too late.”
There may have been some personal frustration at his unrepresentative grid position, but Ocon was pleased with the team’s overall result.
He’s hoping that fortune goes his way in Brazil, where he made the podium last year with Alpine.
“It’s a big day, obviously,” he said. “We didn’t get the full rewards with the updates that we should have had. I think the pace for us this weekend was very good. We didn’t show everything that there was, so there was some left on the table.
“But it definitely feels good to have that behind us. And I hope it’s not only track related. We are going to see at Interlagos how it is. It’s a track that I look forward to. Good memories from last year. Obviously, I want some rain. That would be nice!”