(Motorsport-Total.com) – “Probably the toughest first half of a season I’ve ever had.” This is the mid-season conclusion from Esteban Ocon after a sobering first half of the 2026 season at Haas. The Frenchman is one of the biggest disappointments of the current Formula 1 year and is facing replacement in the team due to his lack of performance.
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His meager record: three points in eleven races – resulting from a tenth place in Suzuka and a ninth place in Monaco. For comparison: teammate Oliver Bearman already has 18 points to his name.
However, to be fair, Bearman scored 17 of his 18 points in the first two race weekends; since then, only one more point has been added.
Thus, Ocon scored three times as many points as the Briton in the remaining weekends – at a time when it was difficult for the Haas drivers to even get close to the top 10.
Is Ocon’s performance fairly assessable?
The truth is also that Bearman has generally had Ocon clearly under control, even if it hasn’t translated into points for him. Bearman leads 8:3 in the internal team qualifying duel. Only in Japan, Monaco – where Ocon scored points – and recently in Hungary was Ocon able to place ahead of his teammate.
Ocon saw the checkered flag ahead of Bearman only twice – but Bearman did so seven times ahead of Ocon.
| Grand Prix | Ocon (Q) | Bearman (Q) | Ocon (R) | Bearman (R) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 8 | 4 | 7 | |
| Australia | 13. (+0.180) | 12. | 11. (+25.3) | 7. |
| China | 13. (+0.305) | 10. | 14. (+1 lap) | 5. |
| Japan | 12. | 18. (+0.175) | 10. | Retirement |
| Miami | 14. (+0.205) | 12. | 13. (+7.5) | 11. |
| Canada | 17. (+0.396) | 16. | 14. (+1 lap) | 10. |
| Monaco | 17. | 19. (+0.092) | 9. | Retirement |
| Barcelona | 17. (+0.502) | 15. | 13. | 17. (+4 laps) |
| Austria | 15. (+0.294) | 13. | 16. (+1 lap) | 14. |
| Great Britain | 17. (+0.110) | 14. | 13. (+0.3) | 12. |
| Belgium | 18. (+0.695) | 16. | 17. (+16.5) | 14. |
| Hungary | 15. | 17. (+0.223) | 16. | 19. (+44.3) |
The numbers seem clear, but even Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu had to admit that assessing performance is difficult because the Haas car is very inconsistent for both drivers. Both talk about puzzling performance differences, even though the specifications in the car should actually be the same.
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“There were too many things that prevented us from delivering performance,” says Ocon. “That was probably the toughest first half of a season I’ve ever had – considering how inconsistent the car was from one race to another and how many problems I had this year.”
Can Haas solve the problems?
The Frenchman said before the summer break that he only had two weekends where everything went normally – frustrating for him and the entire Haas team. “You always want to arrive at a weekend and have everything run smoothly,” he says. “Just work normally on the car, refine the setup, and get the maximum out of it.”
But that was too rarely granted to him. “But that’s how it was. I continue to work with the team to help them as best as possible to solve these problems and try to get the best result for us.”
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Ocon emphasizes, however, that Haas knows what needs to be done. “And we stick together to fix the problems. That’s the crucial thing,” he says. “I’m sure we’ll get through this together. It’s true that this has been going on for quite a while now, which is difficult. But we stick together and will fix it.”
In the end, numbers rarely lie in Formula 1. Despite everything, Ocon’s cockpit remains in great danger. Ferrari junior Rafael Camara and Formula 2 champion Leonardo Fornaroli are just waiting for their chance.
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