Haas group principal Ayao Komatsu will make clear “guidelines of engagement” for brand spanking new drivers Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman to comply with within the 2025 Components 1 season.
The American squad has a historical past of flashpoints between team-mates – with former drivers Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean colliding a number of occasions in 2019, whereas Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin often tried to occupy the identical items of racetrack in 2021.
These incidents occurred on the watch of former group boss Guenther Steiner, with Komatsu chief race engineer till his elevation to group boss firstly of final season, when Haas ran Nico Hulkenberg alongside Magnussen for the second yr in succession.
That duo solely had one actually contentious second through the 2024 marketing campaign – when Hulkenberg was unexpectedly undercut by Magnussen after struggling a barely gradual pitstop on the Austrian GP and so they subsequently duked it out on monitor.
However, given Ocon has a substantial checkered historical past of incidents along with his F1 team-mates – from his days racing Sergio Perez at Drive India by means of to his clashes with Fernando Alonso after which Pierre Gasly at Alpine – questions have already been raised about what may occur in his new relationship with rookie Bearman.
When requested if he could be doing something completely different when it comes to establishing clear racing guidelines at Haas this yr or if he was selecting to see how issues develop, Komatsu, who pushed exhausting to safe Ocon’s companies in 2025, replied: “No – guidelines of engagement must be completely clear. From day one. So, that will likely be clarified earlier than the primary race.
Esteban Ocon, Haas F1 Crew
Picture by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Photos
“I do not anticipate any team-mate contacts, DNFs, due to that. However it’s good, it’s a must to race exhausting.
“Take a look at final yr – Kevin is a tough racer after which Kevin and Nico, the closest we got here to a problem, which did not change into a problem, was Austria, proper? However that is partly as a result of we operated in a not good method when it comes to pitstop timing. We did not assist ourselves.
“So, as a group, we should not be creating these messes. However, additionally, with the understanding of one another as team-mates, the principles of engagement could be completely clear.”
Komatsu additionally mentioned he was not trying again to the “utterly completely different period and dynamics and drivers” of the Mazepin-Schumacher Haas line-up in 2021 in terms of setting out how he desires his squad’s new drivers to function in 2025.
“No,” he mentioned. “You have a look at how we operated final yr after which how we will enhance as a group, what we did good final yr, what we may have improved final yr, after which take that studying for this yr.
“So, I do not look that far again to 2021. [And] with Esteban, with Ollie, these are two very, excellent drivers. They each bought much more to show, yeah…
“However it’s humorous about Ollie being a rookie, I do not deal with him as a rookie. He can drive so much, with these younger engineers as effectively, [they will] develop collectively.
“We do not deal with him as a rookie within the sense that we pay a lot of consideration to what he has to say, due to course he is bought good expertise in Ferrari’s schooling [and] simulator.
“And he is been driving our automotive – VF-23 and VF-24. Each time he will get within the automotive, his suggestions’s been glorious. The strategy has been glorious, velocity has been nice.
“You noticed in Baku and Interlagos [where Bearman raced in place of Magnussen last year], each qualifying classes he outqualified Nico who was our reference, proper? I feel we bought an excellent mixture [with Ocon]. Actually trying ahead to it.”
Learn Additionally:
On this article
Alex Kalinauckas
Components 1
Esteban Ocon
Oliver Bearman
Haas F1 Crew
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