After a promising weekend in Baku, Haas leaves without points. Oliver Bearman and Esteban Ocon finished the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in twelfth and fourteenth place respectively. Despite both drivers impressing on Friday with a fifth and eighth time in the second free practice, the rest of the weekend was challenging. According to Esteban Ocon, things have not been going well for the American team lately.
Oliver Bearman started the weekend strong, impressively clocking the fifth fastest time in the second free practice on Friday. However, things went awry in the qualifying round on Saturday: he hit the wall coming out of turn 2, resulting in damage. In the race, he could not progress beyond P12. “I was stuck in traffic. I was held up by Colapinto and Lance Stroll for far too long. The car was really fast this weekend, but I couldn’t make the most of it. I just have to do better in the qualifying round in Singapore,” the Haas driver said afterwards.
Esteban Ocon also demonstrated speed on Friday with an eighth time and was satisfied with the balance of his Haas. However, after qualifying, he was disqualified due to a technical violation: the rear wing did not comply with the regulations. His race was disrupted early on Sunday when he was hit by Nico Hülkenberg in turn 6. The Frenchman was visibly frustrated afterwards and emphasized that Haas has not had a trouble-free weekend for weeks. “We tried a very aggressive strategy, but it actually cost me a lot of time. It was just a difficult weekend. We really need a trouble-free weekend for once.”
Battle for Prize Money
Haas finished sixth in the constructors’ championship last year with 58 points. However, the American team is currently only ninth with 44 points. To secure the necessary prize money, it is crucial for Haas to improve quickly. With seven more Grand Prix and three sprint races to go, there is fortunately still plenty of time to score points.
