Ocon slams "big and costly mistake" in Haas' Belgian GP strategy

“The thing that really pissed me off is that it's not the first time it happened.” 

Perhaps unexpectedly, this quote belongs to Haas Formula 1 team principal Ayao Komatsu, as he reflected on the British Grand Prix – where Haas faltered in mixed weather conditions – in the paddock during the build-up to F1’s race at Spa-Francorchamps.

Komatsu insisted his outfit needed to execute races cleanly and seize opportunities, and yet this is what it failed to do again in the main Belgian GP race, where the key moment was the switch from intermediate to slick tyres. 

Oliver Bearman and Esteban Ocon ran 11th and 12th in the first stint, but neither of them were among the drivers who successfully gambled on an early pitstop, and Ocon was even the last – though on the same lap as three others – to make the switch… seemingly inexplicably ending up on used rubber. The Haas cars then found themselves down in 14th and 20th, eventually finishing 11th and 15th. 

Simply by pitting two laps later, Ocon lost some 28 seconds to Lewis Hamilton, who was first to change tyres. Just two seconds or so can be accounted for by the Frenchman letting team-mate Bearman through then, on his own volition. “The team didn't ask me to let him go, but I was holding him up in the middle sector quite a lot and I was damaging my tyres much more,” he explained after the race. 

Esteban Ocon, Haas F1 Team, Oliver Bearman, Haas F1 Team

Photo by: Peter Fox / Getty Images

Regardless, Ocon did not conceal his unhappiness as he spoke to the media. “Frustrating,” he said. “I think there are two very crucial decisions that we didn't do in the right way. 

“The first one obviously was boxing two laps too late. We need to review these last two races because I feel, when it's wet, we don't put things together. 

“The other thing was boxing onto a used set of tyres while we had a new one in the truck ready for us. So, I did basically my 35 laps on a used set of tyres. That's a big and costly mistake.” 

Asked by Autosport whether he had specifically requested to pit earlier than he eventually did, Ocon remained tight-lipped after carefully pondering his words. 

“We will review everything,” he replied. “If I need to give more information, I will in the future. But there is a very clear process on who takes decisions for what into the team. I believe that I did what I needed to do, but again it's all together that we messed up and we will do everything we need for that not to happen.” 

Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal of Haas

Photo by: Simon Galloway / LAT Images via Getty Images

While showing his admirable team-player ethos in steering clear from apportioning blame, Ocon’s wording likely means that he requested an earlier pitstop and was denied – possibly because Haas didn’t want to double-stack its cars as they were running so close to one another, unless his request came even earlier, in which case the squad may have deemed slicks too risky at that stage. 

Meanwhile, Bearman’s suboptimal pitstop timing was compounded by technical trouble. 

“Incredibly frustrating,” the young Briton lamented. “We did box a lap too late from the inter to the slick, and got undercut by a few guys – but it happens, it's one of those where it's really difficult to judge.

“Honestly, from my side, I didn't really give much feedback on the track because I was nursing a problem with the engine, and more focused on that, because I was struggling with my battery charge and everything.” 

Haas did at least score six valuable points in the sprint with a remarkable 5-7 finish, closing in on Aston Martin’s eighth position in the constructors’ championship. This weekend’s Hungarian GP will provide an opportunity for further progress, with a caveat on strategy. 

“I see there could be some ‘weather’ there as well,” Ocon warned. “So, we need to sort out everything on our side before we get there. But there's no reason why we shouldn't be performing there.”