After an up-and-down start to the 2025 F1 season, MoneyGram Haas F1 Team sits sixth in the World Constructors’ Championship standings with 20 points, five points behind Williams Racing in P5, and ten ahead of Aston Martin in P7. However, despite emerging as a formidable midfield contender, Haas continues to struggle with the fundamental issues that threatened to derail the season before it started. While speaking to the media ahead of the 2025 F1 Saudi Arabian GP, Haas’ Esteban Ocon discussed the team’s progress with the VF-25 as they continue their fight for points.
Haas “got the maximum” from VF-25 in Shanghai and Suzuka
Ocon explained that, prior to the Saudi Arabian GP, Haas had managed to extract the maximum performance from the VF-25 in two of the first four races. At the Chinese GP, Ocon secured a fifth-place finish, with teammate Oliver Bearman following in eighth. Similarly, at the Bahrain GP, Ocon finished eighth while Bearman claimed the final point in tenth. In addition, Bearman secured another tenth-place finish at the Japanese Grand Prix.
“I think out of the four races that we’ve done, we got the maximum out of the car on two occasions. So it’s 50% of the time, which is not great, but it’s great that we did the maximum on those two occasions.”
A lot left to learn about the VF-25
Despite this, Ocon identified the need for Haas to work towards getting their VF-25 into “the right window” for races, including the 2025 Saudi Arabian GP. To do this, he emphasised the importance of remaining focused on the moment and what could be learned from it, rather than dwelling on previous successes or failures.
“Now we need to stay on top of the window of the car. It’s difficult to get it to the right window every single time.”
“We just reset the page, forget what happened last week, and we go again this weekend. There’s nothing else that we can really do. But there’s much more for us to learn still. And every weekend we do is a step in the right direction because we understand plenty more.”
Ocon did, however, emphasise that despite the team’s work, they still struggled with certain issues, including set-up and consistency.
“This car hasn’t been easy to set up right, to get the consistency right, to get under certain issues. And this is what we’re working on, obviously.”
“Deep issues” with VF-25 remain
Ocon also denied that his familiarity with systems at Alpine, formerly Renault, influenced his approach to racing with Haas.
“No, we are very far from that,” he replied when asked if the differences between the two teams still influenced his performance or comfort.
He explained that he was comfortable with the different aspects of his VF-25, with the team having made the appropriate adjustments to increase his comfort behind the wheel.
“Luckily, this is all under control. The control side, engine side, brake shape, differential, torque setting. This all works super well, and we are okay with that. We managed to do everything that we needed on that side. This from race two really has been perfect.”
He explained that his difficulties in 2025 stemmed from the VF-25’s inconsistency between sessions and events, rather than from any deficit in his ability. Ocon, echoing previous claims by Team Principal Ayao Komatsu, added that the Haas still had to address significant issues with the VF-25.
“It’s more about that we struggle a bit with the consistency from sessions to events with the car, and suddenly we have a new problem that we really struggle to fix.”
“And it’s getting the car in the right window, not having some strange issues at times. This is what we need to work on really. It’s more deep issues than just the cosmetic ones with mapping and light setup.”
Excellent efficiency at Haas despite small size
Despite Haas’ small size, Ocon believes that the team is capable of overcoming challenges and improving their car as the season progresses. While he opted not to compare his new team with his old, he stated that Haas did not feel small to him, as they had impressed him with their productivity and problem-solving abilities. He described this as “great to see.”
“I’m not going to compare with teams, but as a driver, from where I’m sitting, I don’t feel this team is small. I think this team is relatively quicker than I’ve ever felt before. In terms of producing parts, in terms of producing solutions, coming up with data points, it’s great to see.”
Ocon concluded, “Yes, we are a lot less, but there is two times the work that has been done in the past.”
