Esteban Ocon reveals early Haas fear: 'I felt it was a lost cause'

Esteban Ocon has revealed that he initially feared the season would be a "lost cause" at Haas, following a disastrous Australian Grand Prix that kicked off his first campaign with the American outfit. Ocon joined Haas from Alpine and skipped the final race of the 2024 season to take part in the post-season test with his new team. The opening 14 Grands Prix have been solid for the Frenchman, with his results pointing to a positive trajectory. He currently sits 10th in the F1 Drivers’ Championship with 27 points — 10 of which came from a fifth-place finish at the Chinese Grand Prix. Ocon has taken on a leadership role at Haas for much of the campaign, in a season that began under worrying circumstances. The team’s performance at the season-opener in Albert Park was poor, with the VF-25 clearly at the bottom of the pecking order. This led to immediate concerns from Ocon about the year ahead. However, he has been hugely impressed by how quickly the team has addressed the early issues. "Going in the good direction, I would say," said Ocon, reflecting on his first 14 grands prix with Haas.  "It hasn't been smooth the whole time, but we were able to get some weekends where we thought, okay, that was a really strong one. There was nothing we could have done better and there was a lot of learning.  "We started, clearly, as the last car in Australia, and we fought back in a magnificent way. The team was able to react to certain situations in a way that I felt it was a lost cause, and that wasn't the case.  "It's been great to see how much pride the team takes when we do certain results, and I'm really proud of everyone in the way we've been able to deliver and improve.  "We set ourselves in a good position now where it's a tight midfield, and we need to deliver every time we are out there, and that will make the difference at the end of the year."