May 1 (GMM) Esteban Ocon admits his 2026 season has started poorly – but insists misfortune rather than performance is to blame.
The experienced Frenchman, 29, is already being mentioned as a standout underperformer of 2026, whose place on the grid beyond this season is under increasing scrutiny.
“It’s probably the unluckiest start to the season I’ve ever had, especially when you have such a good race as Suzuka, and then get the safety car at the worst possible time,” said the Haas driver.
“That’s where it’s not really rewarded, but the internal work and what we were doing were the positive points. It was working well.”
Ocon has just 1 point so far, trailing teammate Oliver Bearman, who has impressed and is widely seen as a future Ferrari contender.
However, Bearman’s heavy crash at Suzuka – a key trigger for the Miami rule tweaks – continues to reverberate.
“It’s great to see overtaking, a good show, but we shouldn’t see one car coming up 50kph faster behind another,” Ocon said.
“In the past, the speed differences built up along the straight, reaching a peak at the end. Whereas since the start of the season, we’ve suddenly had these speed gaps in very strange places.”
The incident itself remains a point of tension.
Bearman had criticised Franco Colapinto after the crash, describing the situation as “unacceptable” following the near-miss that preceded his impact.
Colapinto has now revealed the pair have not spoken since.
“I’ll just say that after the race I sent him a message right away. He never replied, so he didn’t talk to me. I did talk to him, though,” he said.
“No, I’ve already spoken about it. I think the most important thing is that he was okay. I’m not going to comment much more on it.”
Reflecting on the incident, the Argentine also highlighted the difficulty drivers were facing under the existing rules.
“Currently, with the approach speeds, you look in the rearview mirror for a second, and the next second, the car is 20 meters behind you,” he said.
“I think both of them share responsibility. But I want to emphasise that at no point during that corner did I act aggressively in a way that could have caused the incident or led to the crash.”
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