What Esteban Ocon noticed when he visited the Haas factory that was ‘missing’ at Alpine

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Esteban Ocon is set to embark on a new chapter in his Formula 1 career when he makes the switch to Haas for the 2025 season.

The Frenchman is making the move after spending the last five years at Alpine, with the team agreeing that their tenure came to a natural end together earlier this season.

Esteban Ocon will be paired alongside rookie driver Oliver Bearman in what will be an all-new lineup for the team, as they look to improve their current fortunes and finish further up the grid.

Haas underwent a significant recruitment drive in the last few months which should help in their ambitions to finish further up the order, with Nico Hulkenberg saying that the future is ‘exciting’ for the American team.

Ocon recently had a tour of their factory and explained one thing he saw that they didn’t have at Alpine when speaking to AMuS.

Esteban Ocon noticed ‘major’ investments at Haas compared to Alpine

Haas is one of the smaller entities on the grid, having spent years on a tight budget before the cost cap came into effect during the 2021 season. The team shares resources with Ferrari but is also making ‘major’ investments according to Ocon.

“What convinced me most was that Ayao (Komatsu) is leading the team. He is a seasoned racing engineer who knows what he is talking about. When I first met him, I was still very young. But even then I was very impressed by the questions he asked me,” said Ocon.

“He was my engineer when I did my first Formula 1 test in 2014. I still remember that fondly. Haas currently employs 300 people. But they do more than teams with 1,500 employees.

“There are major investments in the future that will affect performance. The team has clear goals. I want to be a part of them. I have already been to the factory and seen the passion with which everyone works there. I missed that feeling.”

Ayao Komatsu admits Oliver Bearman doubt after ‘setbeck’

Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu has admitted that there was ‘one thing I did not know’ about Bearman following a ‘setback’ during his debut with the team in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

The 19-year-old will graduate from Formula 2 and has already impressed on two outings this year, most recently when he filled in for the banned Kevin Magnussen.

READ MORE: Who is 2025 Haas driver and Ferrari gem Oliver Bearman? Everything to know

Komatsu admitted that he had doubts about Bearman when he crashed during FP3 in Baku and whether he could deal with it going into qualifying.

While he was out-qualified by Hulkenberg, in the race Bearman managed to finish ahead and score points for Haas marking the first time a driver has score points on debut at two different teams in the same season.