Esteban Ocon makes Haas admission ahead of upcoming switch from Alpine

Esteban Ocon said he has been looking forward to driving the Haas car from the moment his move was announced.

The Frenchman will join Haas next season after Alpine decided not to renew his deal but it already looks like a move up rather than down.

Esteban Ocon speaks ahead of F1 2025 Haas move

At the start of the season, swapping Alpine for Haas may have been taken as a move down the F1 ladder but since then the American outfit have turned into the surprise package of the season, outscoring Alpine by over three times and also agreeing a major deal with Toyota.

It seems that Ocon then has made a wise career move having announced his switch in July.

“I’ve been excited since the day we’ve announced to go there next year,” Ocon, who has been at Enstone since 2020, said. “I think you know what Ayao [Komatsu, Haas team principal] told me in terms of making the team take the next step is what I believed at the time.

“It has since then reassured me 100% about the way he wants to approach things. It’s fantastic to see, but I really hope that they continue that trajectory upwards and what they are doing at the moment, it’s really nice. So I think it’s an example for everyone.”

Ocon was also asked if he was looking forward to being a more straightforward organisation of team boss to team principal, a direct comparison to Renault and their control of the Alpine group. While Ocon did not comment on Renault, he did say it was reassuring to see Komatsu had the trust of owner Gene Haas and CEO of Haas Automation Bob Murray.

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“Ayao has full power which is great, because obviously Gene and Bob, they are really listening to him, really trusting him.

“They really take all the directions and all the discussions into play. They are really trusting who has to deal with the organisation, and that is Ayao, and it’s, as I said, working very well and I believe that when I talk to Ayao.”

Haas will be the fourth team of Ocon’s career having previously driven for Manor, Force India and Renault/Alpine.

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