Esteban Ocon cut a frustrated figure in Miami’s sultry evening air after last weekend’s race, the Haas driver left to rue a stroke of bad luck that turned a promising Grand Prix into a disappointing 12th-place finish.
After a stellar Saturday in qualifying saw him storm into Q3 for the first time in 2025, and starting P9, Ocon had every reason to believe he could add to Haas’ points tally.
But as the checkered flag fell, it was a case of what might have been for the Frenchman, whose race was undone by an ill-timed pitstop and a car just shy of the pace needed to challenge the front-runners.
The Miami Grand Prix was a chaotic affair, with three Virtual Safety Cars shaking up strategies. Ocon, however, missed the memo on fortune.
While others capitalized on VSC periods to pit, his one and only stop came under full-speed conditions, costing him dearly.
Isack Hadjar slipped past in the pits, and Lewis Hamilton, after a spirited early duel, overtook him on raw pace.
“I think it was a solid race on our side, but we unfortunately lacked a bit of pace to be fighting with the quicker guys in front,” Ocon told F1.com, his tone tinged with disappointment.
“We also didn’t get very lucky, we never pitted under the VSC, many of them happened but we never got to be in that position.”
Ocon’s battles on track were nevertheless a highlight, particularly his wheel-to-wheel tussles with Hamilton, but the outcome left him wanting.
“Yeah, a couple of fights but always ending up in the same way so a bit frustrating on that side,” he admitted.
Despite the result, he saw the bigger picture: a strong weekend overall for Haas, with his Q3 appearance a testament to their progress.
“I think overall, it has been a strong weekend for the team and we need to keep that going once we get some more performance out of the car,” he said.
“It’s obviously great to be fighting with the quicker cars ahead. It shows we did a good job in qualifying yesterday, as we went a bit backwards today.
“We’ll keep at it, I think there are some good learnings out of this weekend and some good expectations on the next ones as well so looking forward to it.”
The frustration wasn’t Ocon’s alone. His teammate, Oliver Bearman, endured a torrid race, forced to retire midway through after a mechanical gremlin struck.
Starting dead last, Bearman had little hope of repeating his Sprint race heroics in the dry conditions, and his race ended abruptly.
“Not sure exactly what happened, I just lost drive, power steering, everything pretty much,” the rookie said, summing up the disheartening DNF.
“Unfortunate to not be able to finish today.”
For Haas, Miami was a stark reminder of their precarious position. Now trailing Williams by 17 points in the Constructors’ Championship, the team’s early-season momentum – three consecutive point-scoring weekends—has fizzled, with two pointless races.
Reliability issues, as Bearman’s retirement underscored, remain a thorn in their side, and the VF-25 needs more pace to consistently challenge the likes of Williams and RB.
For Ocon, the focus is clear: harness the lessons from Miami, iron out the bad luck, and chase the points that slipped away in Magic City.
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