The last time Haas revamped its driver lineup completely, it did not end up well for the American outfit. Signing two rookie drivers, namely Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin, for the 2021 season turned out to be a terrible mistake with regard to the financial loss they suffered due to their frequent crashes.
Cut to 2025, Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu is hoping that their new driver lineup of Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman doesn’t follow suit. The Japanese engineer is also reluctant to draw parallels between the two lineups, highlighting that Ocon and Bearman seem much more experienced and mature than their 2021 duo.
An unfortunate mistake in tricky wet conditions saw Mick Schumacher crash out in Monaco, a repeat of his 2021 street track crashes and another big rebuild job for Haas #F1 #MonacoGP #Autosport pic.twitter.com/87AUNTMvIh
— Autosport (@autosport) June 2, 2022
“I don’t think Nikita and Mick are a good example!”, Komatsu said, per Motorsport-Total. “If we had to go back to that combination, we would have a problem”, he added.
Learning from what Haas did wrong back then, Komatsu has highlighted that even though he will encourage “hard racing” between Ocon and Bearman, he wishes to set the rules from the get-go. There will be conversations between him and the drivers about what they can and cannot do when they encounter each other during races.
“I don’t expect any contact between teammates, no dropouts because of [the freedom to race hard],” the Haas boss stated.
It would be interesting to see how the pairing of Ocon and Bearman performs for the American outfit. The Frenchman, in particular, has had a reputation for being a ‘difficult’ teammate, with his past skirmishes with Sergio Perez, Fernando Alonso, and Pierre Gasly serving as evidence of the same.
Komatsu had been quite satisfied with how Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg often worked together for the team’s benefit to secure crucial points. Even though Magnussen has a similar character to Ocon, the Dane did an excellent job in his two-year stint besides Hulkenberg.
Magnussen and Hulkenberg’s stable Haas pairing
Before becoming teammates at Haas, Magnussen and Hulkenberg weren’t the best of mates, owing to their past heated exchange at the 2017 Hungarian GP. Magnussen had run the then-Renault driver off the track at turn two during a battle in the race.
When Hulkenberg came to confront Magnussen in the paddock, the Dane slammed him with an infamous expletive remark, which became the highlight of their relationship: “S*ck my b*lls, mate!”
So, when the German driver made his full-time return with Haas in 2023, there was a notion that the two drivers may have an intense intra-team rivalry. Instead, the duo settled their differences and united to work together as a unit for Haas’ betterment.
They’ve come a long way since *that* moment here in 2017
Nico Hulkenberg only has good things to say about his departing Haas team mate, and friend, Kevin Magnussen #F1 @HaasF1Team pic.twitter.com/MOmnEgfgUX
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 18, 2024
This maturity was evident in the races when Magnussen often held up the pack so that Hulkenberg could score points. Even though the #20 driver had developed a reputation of being a ‘dangerous’ driver, he ensured he never had an incident with his teammate during the last two years.
Haas benefitted massively due to this camaraderie between their two drivers, as they climbed up the Constructors’ standings in 2024 and finished P7, having finished dead last in 2023.
