Haas boss Komatsu admits Ocon's Alpine collisions have 'not gone unnoticed'
F1 News
Open communication and trust must be at the forefront of Esteban Ocon's relationship with Haas, says team boss Ayao Komatsu. The Frenchman will leave Alpine for American outfit Haas in 2025. Ocon will be coming off the back of a stormy stint with Alpine after several on-track controversies with his teammate Pierre Gasly. Ayao Komatsu will be hoping that Ocons' previous controversies don't follow in his wake when he begins his next chapter as a Haas driver.
“Honestly, I think lots of it comes down to transparency, trust and then clarity of rules of engagement,” Komatsu revealed. "In my various positions of race engineer, chief race engineer, director of engineering or current position of team principal – my experience is that as long as I approach them with transparency, no personal agenda, and a clear team agenda about how we need to go through this race weekend or this year, what’s the objective, what’s the rules of engagement. As long as that’s clarified in advance, as long as the communication is totally transparent then the trust is there." The Japanese engineer worked for BAR (British American Racing) and the Enstone team of Renault/Lotus before he moved to Haas in 2016.
Haas 'had to consider' Ocon's Monaco incident
Ocon's biggest altercation of the 2024 season took place in Monaco when he dived down the inside on an unsuspecting Pierre Gasly at Portier on the first lap. They made contact, which forced teammate Gasly into the air. Ocon was forced to retire and took himself out of contention from a points-paying position. “Of course, we had to consider it. It’s not like it’s gone unnoticed, it’s a pretty major incident. So I had a conversation with him and still made that decision. I’m happy with it," Komatsu said confidently.
Away from the controversies, it's clear that Ocon is an extremely talented driver, and the Haas team principal is excited to see what the Frenchman can bring to his team next season. “He’s only 27, he’s still got lots to prove, and for me, he’s still got amazing commitment and work ethic, and when I met him and explained the project to him about where we are and what we’re trying to achieve, I wasn’t trying to convince him, I just told him as it is. And then he just got completely on board, to be honest much more so than I expected.
"He wanted to be part of this project, and he believes in this project. It means quite a lot to me that we have a driver, an experienced driver – with a good track record, still young, still has a lot to prove, and he completely 100 per cent believes in the project. I am sure he will give us his all, so I am really looking forward to it.” Komatsu concluded. Ocon is set to partner with British rookie Oliver Bearman at Haas in 2025.