The Haas F1 Team is heading into 2025 with a completely revamped driver lineup, bringing in Esteban Ocon from Alpine and promoting rookie Oliver Bearman from Formula 2. With Nico Hülkenberg off to Sauber and Kevin Magnussen exiting the American squad, Haas is betting on a fresh start—but can they avoid the teammate drama that has haunted Ocon in the past?
Team boss Ayao Komatsu thinks so—and he’s laying down the law from day one.
Ocon’s Notorious Past with Teammates Sparks Concerns
While Oliver Bearman, the highly rated British rookie, has already stated that his goal is to beat Ocon, he may have a bigger fight on his hands—keeping the peace.
Ocon has a long history of clashing with his teammates, and Haas will be wary of past fireworks:
🔥 2017-2018 (Force India/Racing Point) – Ocon vs. Sergio Pérez
🔹 Multiple collisions, including major incidents in Baku and Singapore
🔹 Team eventually issued team orders to stop the fighting
🔥 2021-2022 (Alpine) – Ocon vs. Fernando Alonso
🔹 Constant battles on track, sparking frustration in Alonso
🔹 Alonso famously called Ocon’s racing “ridiculous” after multiple close calls
🔥 2023-2024 (Alpine) – Ocon vs. Pierre Gasly
🔹 Tensions ran high from the start due to their junior karting rivalry
🔹 Their battle at Zandvoort nearly ended in disaster
Bearman’s aggressive but disciplined approach in Formula 2 suggests that he won’t back down easily—setting up what could be an explosive intra-team rivalry.
Haas Boss: ‘I Don’t Expect Teammate Collisions in 2025’
Komatsu, however, is determined to prevent any in-fighting from derailing Haas’ campaign.
🗣️ “Rules of engagement have to be totally clear. From day one. So, that will be clarified before the first race. I don’t expect any teammate contacts, DNFs, because of that. But it’s good; you have to race hard.”
Komatsu believes that past mistakes won’t be repeated, taking inspiration from how he handled Hülkenberg and Magnussen in 2024, who only had one close call in Austria—a pit stop error that led to an unnecessary on-track scrap.
🗣️ “Look at last year—Kevin is a hard racer, and then Kevin and Nico, the closest we came to an issue, which didn’t become an issue, was Austria, right? But that’s partly because we operated in a not-perfect manner in terms of pit stop timing. We didn’t help ourselves.”
Haas is looking to improve not just driver relations but also their own race operations, ensuring that they don’t create unnecessary tension through strategy missteps.
Can Haas Avoid Internal Explosions?
🚨 The Key Questions Heading into 2025:
✅ Can Komatsu keep Ocon and Bearman from colliding on track?
✅ Will Ocon’s history of teammate battles resurface at Haas?
✅ Can Bearman establish himself as a legitimate threat in his rookie season?
Haas is heading into a crucial era of change. With a fresh driver lineup, new management, and a focus on consistency, the team hopes to break free from the midfield struggles that have defined them in recent years.
But if Ocon and Bearman start clashing, Haas could be in for another season of chaos—and the spotlight will be on whether Komatsu’s strict teammate policies actually hold up.
Buckle up—this could be a wild one.
