Ocon explains what convinced him to join Haas as he reflects on how partnership with Bearman can ‘pull the team forward’

Esteban Ocon has explained how listening to Haas boss Ayao Komatsu – as well as witnessing the team’s continued upward trajectory – convinced him that joining the squad in 2025 was the right move, with the Frenchman also looking forward to teaming up with rookie Oliver Bearman.

It was confirmed on Thursday ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix that Ocon has signed with Haas on a multi-year contract, following on from the announcement last week that Kevin Magnussen would be leaving the American outfit.

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Reflecting further on the process behind the decision, Ocon detailed how Komatsu – who he worked with during the early days of his F1 career – was pivotal in confirming to him that the team are continuing to move forwards.

“Very much looking forward to it,” Ocon said of his next move. “Obviously great to finally be able to talk about it. It’s an exciting challenge that we have ahead. The team has been massively on an upward trajectory at the moment and they want to keep that going.

“Obviously I have a very long history with Ayao, who’s been my first race engineer in Formula 1 – 10 years ago now – and he’s convinced me of his plan on where they want to head to. I’ve got the same goal as they have, so it is fantastic to finally be teaming up.”

Haas’s 2025 driver line-up is now complete, with Ocon set to race alongside Bearman whose impending arrival at the squad was announced earlier in July.

READ MORE: Haas explain Bearman’s contribution in FP1 sessions amid praise for his ‘pretty impressive’ feedback

Pushed on what Komatsu has told him about the goals of the team – as well as being quizzed on his thoughts about Bearman – Ocon responded: “[Haas] are competitors and they want to improve. Step by step they want to get better.

“They have big plans ahead to get that underway and to improve the situation they are in. They are already doing that at the moment. So it is exciting, it is a new challenge for me, which I’m very much looking forward to, and yeah to be racing with Ollie as well – he’s an exciting young prospect.

“Many people say he’s going to be a future world champion so I look forward to be teaming up with him and hopefully pull the team forward.”

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When asked as he spoke to the media later on about whether he will support Bearman with his progress – given that Ocon will be the more experienced driver – the 27-year-old answered: “I don’t think Ollie needs my help on anything.

“He probably has more experience with the team than I will have next year – he’s been driving a lot in FP1s, in testing as well. I’m probably going to have to ask him a lot more things! I won’t have to give him tips, there’s not going to be any of that.”