Bearman and Ocon Reflect on Difficult Hungarian GP for Haas
Haas drivers Ollie Bearman and Esteban Ocon came away from the Hungarian Grand Prix without points, continuing a challenging streak. Both expressed concerns about the car's performance and the need for upcoming upgrades.
The Hungarian Grand Prix proved to be another tough outing for Haas, as drivers Ollie Bearman and Esteban Ocon left the track without scoring points. Bearman candidly admitted to losing all confidence in the car during the weekend, a sentiment echoed by their less-than-spectacular grid positions—Ocon started P15 and Bearman P17, only to finish P16 and P19, respectively.
"It was certainly a long day, as we'd anticipated," Bearman remarked, noting the car's lack of qualifying pace was even worse during the race. Despite a five-second penalty for ignoring blue flags, Bearman struggled with overtaking and felt stuck, questioning why their performance at Spa had been so much better. "I haven't felt good in the car all weekend. We need to take a hard look over the summer break to understand these inconsistencies."
Haas, currently experiencing a dry spell in points since Monaco, plans to introduce upgrades after the break, hoping to reverse their downward trend. Bearman initially showed promise with points finishes early in the season, but the team has since slipped in the standings.
Ocon, however, found some silver linings in his performance, achieving consistency from Friday through Sunday, though he agrees that more performance is necessary. "We need to focus on getting more out of the car with the next upgrades," said Ocon. "There are positives to take away, but we clearly need more speed."
As Haas looks ahead to the rest of the season, there's a clear understanding that improvements are needed to get back into the points. Whether the upcoming upgrades will deliver the much-needed boost remains to be seen.