Esteban Ocon points out the main problem with his Haas after the nightmare in Melbourne

The last places occupied by the Haas during the pre-season tests had nothing to worry about: the Americans deliberately focused on long runs, neglecting the flying laps in Bahrain. But when the new teamEsteban Ocon arrived in Melbourne and once again occupied the last positions, anxiety began to rise.

Especially since Haas was unable to rely on both of its cars. Oliver Bearman's first weekend as a driver turned into a disaster: his accident in FP1 prevented him from competing in FP2, then a further crash in FP3 caused a gearbox problem before qualifying, which he was unable to run.

Meanwhile, his garage neighbor, Esteban Ocon, tried his best to get by with his car, but the Frenchman also struggled to perform. On Sunday, neither driver was able to score a point, despite numerous retirements. The Chinese Grand Prix a week later, however, doesn't give Haas time to feel down, but instead gives him an opportunity to reverse the trend in Shanghai. But it's going to be tough, warns Esteban Ocon.

“This weekend will be very different with the sprint format. The circuit has been resurfaced, but it's also a very different track to Melbourne. So I think we'll have some new settings to fine-tune on the car.” Esteban Ocon explained to Canal+ at the start of the weekend."The last three days (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, editor's note) have been mainly spent in meetings, analyzing in detail where the problems are and what aspects we need to focus on. I think Ayao (Komatsu) will be able to confirm this, but a plan is in place for the next races to resolve this stability issue in fast corners."

Until developments arrive, Americans will have to survive by trying to improve what they have in their hands. "Here, the objective will be to optimize the car we have as much as possible and to continue to understand, between our two single-seaters, what is the best compromise to adopt." continues Esteban Ocon. "We won't necessarily have any big technical updates this weekend—they will come later in the season, and hopefully at the next race."

Haas is one of three teams not to have scored a single point with Alpine and Racing Bulls: the three teams where our French drivers ride.

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