After finishing P14 in the 2025 Saudi Arabian GP, Esteban Ocon acknowledged the early pit stop as the “correct” decision.
Qualifying P19 for the Saudi Arabian GP, Ocon was able to move up the order, despite VF-25 lacking the pace compared to rivals.
The early safety car, deployed due to Yuki Tsunoda and Pierre Gasly’s collision, worked in Ocon’s favour. Due to the early pit stop, Ocon could change his medium tyres early on to hard tyres and complete the remaining 49 laps of the race on the hard compound.
After giving up his position to teammate Bearman in the last few laps of the race, Ocon finished the Saudi Arabian GP in P14.
Ocon was put “into the best position” due to the early pit stop
When asked by the media, Ocon acknowledged that his early pit stop during the F1 Saudi Arabian GP aided his climb into the midfield.
He said it had put them “in the best position” for the race. Although he did not finish in the points, Ocon believes that the race strategy was correct.
“I think we put ourselves in the best position in the beginning and if anything would have happened we would have consolidated the place. That was the intention behind the strategy and I think it was the correct one.”
The triple header ended with “a bit of a negative” for Haas
Ocon admitted that finishing the triple header with no new points in Saudi Arabia was a “bit of a negative”, despite not being completely disappointed with his performance during the race. However, Ocon acknowledged that Haas “scored a good amount of points” during the triple header.
“Now, obviously, coming away from that triple, I think there was some positive, but also we finished with a bit of a negative one on the last one. But overall, we scored a good amount of points as a team. Good in Suzuka for Ollie [Bearman], good for me in Bahrain, a bit worse for both of us here.”
The focus now lays on the 2025 F1 Miami GP, as Haas needs to “put the pieces of the puzzle together” to bring out the most of the VF-25 at the beginning of may. Ocon summarized “Hopefully, we can come strong in Miami” with all the information they could get from the triple header and Saudi Arabian GP.
“We obviously need to put the pieces of the puzzle together and come with the right one every single time because we faced different issues all the way through the triple [header] and this is what hurts us a little bit.”
“So, we need to come up with some info after that race. Hopefully, we will have.”
Ocon: VF-25 one-lap pace needs review despite Bahrain consistency
When questioned about whether the VF-25 struggled with one-lap pace – given Haas tends to perform better in races than in qualifying – Ocon admitted there might be some truth to that. However, he emphasized that a deeper analysis was necessary, particularly since his performance in both sessions in Bahrain had been quite consistent.
Ocon stated, when asked about the VF-25’s apparent lack of pace in Saturday’s Qualifying during the Saudi Arabian GP, “I think that has been true in other tracks [but] I need to see for here”
“Obviously, in Bahrain, I don’t think so. I think we finished where we were, which was a good thing. I think in the other ones, yeah, probably that was the case [but] I don’t know about Suzuka.”
At the end Ocon concluded: “We will obviously review everything, and hopefully come back with some good searches.”
