Mar.10 (GMM) Esteban Ocon endured a difficult Australian GP with Haas, finishing P11 while younger teammate Oliver Bearman scored points – before delivering a candid and emotional assessment of his entire Formula 1 career.
Ocon, who was warned by Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu before the season that he needed to raise his game in 2026, traced his Melbourne frustration to a familiar problem.
“From the beginning, there was a significant lack of performance, exactly the same as last year, which is very frustrating,” he told Canal Plus.
“A lot of stability issues with the car, a lot of differences in setup between the two cars. It’s tiring.”
He was blunt about the gap between himself and Bearman.
“It seems Oliver and I simply have different cars. One is very unstable, and the other has severe understeer,” said the Frenchman. “In Melbourne, it’s better to have a car with less understeer.
“We need to resolve these issues and have both cars running on the same footing, plain and simple.”
Ocon took some comfort from his opening lap, when he made up significant positions, but said the underlying pace was a shock. “After such a fantastic first lap, I was in a position to fight for points. However, the pace then turned out to be really bad, which was a big surprise.”
The 29-year-old then opened up more broadly about his career.
“I feel like I haven’t achieved anything in Formula 1,” said Ocon.
“I’m nowhere near where I want to be in terms of results. What drives me is winning races, getting podiums, fighting for pole positions. I don’t even have a pole position. It’s sad, actually.
“I’ve never had the equipment to consistently fight at the front.”
He insisted the dream has not died. “I still have that dream, and it’s what motivates me to put in so many hours every week, to work the way I do, to take risks as soon as I get in the car. As long as I haven’t achieved that, I won’t give up.”
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