Despite a challenging start to the 2025 F1 Saudi Arabian GP weekend, Haas’ Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman are optimistic that the team can put themselves in contention for points if they can overcome the challenges identified during the
tough but busy Free Practice sessions at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit. However, with close title rivals Williams Racing having had a stronger opening to the weekend, the American-based team faces an uphill battle, with their driver hoping that work done over night could help them see the success that they achieved in Sakhir and Shanghai.
Ocon hoping for better pace after busy opening day in Jeddah
While speaking to the media after FP2, Ocon, who finished the session at the bottom of the timesheet, more that 1.752 seconds behind McLaren’s Lando Norris, described the Friday Free Practice sessions as “busy” and productive.
“Yeah, it was obviously a very busy one. Quite a lot of things that we need to look at after today.”
While he admitted that the American team had not enjoyed a particularly easy day, especially against the likes of McLaren which appeared dominant in both session, or even midfield rivals Williams, which saw both drivers in the top 10 at the chequered flag, he acknowledged that data collection had been the team’s focus on the opening day of the Saudi Arabian GP. This collected data, Ocon explained, would be used to inform the team’s approach the Saturday’s Qualifying and Sunday’s Race.
“It hasn’t been the easiest day, but as usual on Friday, we gather data, we try and improve things, and the important [day] is going to be tomorrow.”
However, with both Haas drivers finishing near the bottom of the timesheets in both Friday sessions, Ocon hopes that the team can use their Friday findings to put in a more competitive performance in Qualifying, especially after the team’s successful weekend in Bahrain.
“So we’ll do everything we can to pull it together tomorrow and hopefully have a bit more pace from us.”
Ocon working on confidences with VF-25 around Jeddah Corniche Circuit
When asked about his expectations going into Qualifying, Ocon admitted that it was difficult to know how the team would perform, especially around the “tough” Jeddah Corniche Circuit. He explained that a driver needed confidence at every turn, and emphasised that developing this would be one of the team’s priorities on Friday night.
“Yeah, it’s always difficult to say [where we will be], but it’s a tough track. You need as much confidence as you can from every corner. So you need to feel one with the car and that’s what we’re going to be working on tonight.”
Photo Credit: Haas F1 Team Media
Bearman: Haas have “a bit of work to do” to prepare for Saturday at the 2025 Saudi Arabian GP
Ocon’s Haas teammate, the rookie Oliver Bearman echoed these sentiments while speaking to the media after FP2 at the Saudi Arabian GP. Bearman, who finished FP1 in P18, over fourth-tenths ahead of his older teammate in P19, described the opening session as a “difficult” due to “lacking confidence on the brakes”.
He explained that the team, having learnt from his experience in Bahrain, had made the changes necessary to improve his comfort in FP2. This, in turn, improved his performance in FP2. Bearman finished FP2 in P16, ahead of Ocon in P19.
“FP1 was difficult. Again, [I was] struggling with the similar issues that I did in Bahrain in the few practice sessions: just lacking confidence on the brakes, I had a few lock-ups and the car moving left and right in the braking which is really difficult to predict.”
“So we made a change for FP2. We put back the brakes from a race where they worked very well, and it was the case again. Brakes were much better today in the afternoon, so I’m happy with that.”
While happy with the adjustments to his brakes, however, Bearman was not thrilled with the VF-25’s overall performance, especially on the hard tyres.
“On the other hand, we suffered a bit in performance runs in FP2, missing a little bit, especially jumping onton the soft tyres.”
“So definitely a bit of work to do for tomorrow,” the British driver concluded.
Bearman happy with development since F1 debut in 2024
Despite the challeneges, Bearman, admitted that he was happy to return to the Jeddah Corniche Circuit. It was at this circuit that Bearman made his F1 debut, substituting for Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz who was ruled out after requiring surgical intervention for appendicitis. The rookie who returns to the Jeddah Corniche Circuit as a full-time F1 driver with Haas, reflected on his debut, identifying rookie mistakes that he had since learnt from.
“I’m very happy to be back and if I look back at myself from one year ago, I feel like an absolute idiot, like some of the laps and some of the lines I was doing were really bad.”
Despite this, Bearman acknowledged that he could be too critical of himself, noting that he had had done well despite the difficult situation.
“I can’t be too harsh on myself. It was a tough scenario but, yeah, I wish I could repeat it this weekend.”
He added, “I’m really happy with looking back and seeing how far I’ve developed, and really enjoying driving on this track as normal, and hopefully, we can have a good Qualifying.”
Haas hoping to extract “a little bit more” from the VF-25 ahead of Saudi Arabian GP Qualifying
While Bearman hopes for a good Qualifying session on Saturday, he, like his teammate Ocon, admitted that it was difficult to say where Haas would end up at the end of the session.
“It’s difficult to say,” he replied when asked where he expected his team to be against their rivals, “Like I said, we struggled a little bit more on the soft tyre, especially in FP1, and FP2 was a bit better, bit it’s still really tight, really really tight.”
Despite this, Bearman hopes that Haas will be able to fine-tune their VF-25 ahead of Qualifying, as he believes that more can be extracted from the car once Haas can overcome the issues identified in Friday’s Free Practice sessions.
“I think if we put everything together, we can be in the mix. I hope that’s the case.”
“We just have a few things to fine-tune. I had a bit of bouncing which is always difficult and no fun, so I think if we can get on top of that, we can extract a little bit more from the car.”
Bearman concluded, “So let’s see how tomorrow goes.”
Haas in battle for P5 in the 2025 World Constructors’ Championship
With the Kannapolis-based team currently P5 in the World Constructor’s Championship, just one point ahead of Williams, Haas will be hoping to overcome the issues identified in Friday’s Free Practice sessions to stay ahead of their close rivals. This, however, could be a difficult task, especially with Williams’ having had a much stronger session than Haas on the opening day of the 2025 Saudi Arabian GP weekend.
