Esteban Ocon’s difficult weekend continued at the F1 Japanese GP, as the Haas driver was eliminated in the first qualifying session, starting Sunday’s race from a disappointing 18th position.
New parts fail to deliver expected performance
Despite introducing new upgrades for the Suzuka weekend, Ocon struggled to extract performance from his updated Haas, during the F1 Japanese GP Qualifying session. Teammate Ollie Bearman showed more promising pace, eventually progressing all the way to Q3 as the Brit easily outpaced the former race winner.
“We tried a lot of different things across the cars throughout this weekend, but when we went to the new parts that were supposed to give us more performance. It didn’t quite work on my side as it did on Ollie’s [Bearman],” Ocon explained after his early exit.
The Frenchman pointed to his teammate’s performance as the positive takeaway from an otherwise disappointing session. “That’s the positive side. On Ollie’s [Bearman] car it has worked quite well since the beginning of the weekend. He was much happier than I was, but we were lacking on my side quite clearly.”
Time constraints and persistent issues
When questioned about whether the limited time to optimise the new floor had contributed to his struggles, Ocon acknowledged the challenge but suggested deeper issues were at play.
“I did have the floor today, but it was a bit short in time, I think. But that’s not the exact reason. We need to dig into it, exactly see why that was, we see where the problems are. So yeah, we’ll figure it out.”
More concerningly for the former Alpine driver, he admitted that many of the issues that had plagued his early-season performances remain unresolved.
“It just didn’t improve as much as it should have done. That’s the reality, unfortunately, and I still struggle quite a lot with some of the issues that we’ve seen previously.”
While the technical Suzuka circuit often punishes drivers who lack confidence in their machinery, Ocon was clear that his difficulties stemmed from more fundamental performance issues rather than a lack of trust in the car.
“I’m not missing confidence, that’s not the issue really. I’m just missing grip all around. That’s the main thing,” he stated bluntly when asked about the challenges of tackling Suzuka’s flowing sequence of corners.
Looking towards the F1 Japanese GP on Sunday
Despite the disappointment, Ocon tried to find some positives in the development direction. He was suggesting that the upgrades at least pointed the team in the right direction even if they hadn’t delivered the expected performance gains on his car.
“I think it gives a good direction, that’s the important thing for the team, to keep working in one direction. Now yeah, it’s a shame that this session is missed, for sure.”
With teammate Ollie Bearman showcasing the potential of the upgraded Haas by reaching Q3 for the first time in 2025. Ocon will be hoping the team can identify why the new parts failed to deliver similar improvements to his car ahead of Sunday’s race.
