It hasn’t been the best start to the Bahrain GP for Haas, with Esteban Ocon suffering a big crash in qualifying, moments after his teammate Oliver Bearman locked his place at the back of the grid for Sunday’s race. Ocon made it to Q2 and was on a flying lap when he lost control of his car at the exit of turn three, interestingly right on the other side of where Romain Grosjean’s Haas crashed and exploded in 2021.
Thankfully, Ocon’s car didn’t catch fire. But the rear looked heavily damaged, which explained the relief in the voice of his race engineer Laura Mueller when the Frenchman said he was okay. ‘You’re ok, so that’s good,’ she summed up.
Unfortunately for Haas, this will add to the damage repair bills, and mechanics may have to stay up all night to get the car ready for the Grand Prix. As soon as Ocon crashed, the session was red-flagged, which gave experts a chance to analyze where the ex-Alpine driver went wrong.
Here’s the moment Ocon lost control and spun into the barriers #F1 #BahrainGP pic.twitter.com/gspackF0iw
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 12, 2025
Sky Sports’ Martin Brundle explained, “He was on all the right bits of the race track, it looked all under control, but he upshifted, gets a torque spike and as he was trying to wrestle it, it went around.”
For Haas, who are currently P6 in the standings with 15 points, getting either car into the top 10 will prove to be a challenge. Bearman will start from P20, which will make points an extraordinary achievement.
Red Flag
Esteban crashes into the barriers. He’s reported he’s ok over the radio and is now out of the car.#HaasF1 #F1 #BahrainGP
— MoneyGram Haas F1 Team (@HaasF1Team) April 12, 2025
Ocon, from P14, should have a better shot at adding to the points tally. But whether he will be at 100% remains unknown so far. The 28-year-old confirmed that he was alright, but still went away to get himself checked in the medical car, Sky Sports reported.
Brundle also added, “That’s a tough old angle he’s gone in there. You can see how quickly the car stopped once it’s hit the barrier. That tells you how much energy has dissipated,” explaining how the impact may have injured Ocon.
Time to regroup and focus on tomorrow We’re glad to confirm Esteban is okay after his crash in Q2 #HaasF1 #F1 #BahrainGP pic.twitter.com/aoYBqzGXYT
— MoneyGram Haas F1 Team (@HaasF1Team) April 12, 2025
Thankfully for Ocon, the medical team have confirmed that he is fine and ready to race tomorrow. “Time to regroup and focus on tomorrow, Haas confirmed via a statement. “We’re glad to confirm Esteban is okay after his crash in Q2“.
