Bearman ‘very proud’ of Haas as team mark 200th race while Ocon hopes milestone will bring ‘luck’ in Canada

Ollie Bearman and Esteban Ocon are looking forward to a “special” weekend ahead in Canada as Haas prepare to celebrate their 200th Grand Prix in Formula 1, one in which they are also hoping for a good performance after failing to score points last time out in Spain.

It was back in 2016 at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix that the Haas team made their debut in F1, a race that saw them score their maiden points thanks to Romain Grosjean crossing the line in P6.

GALLERY: Check out Haas’ special livery for their 200th Grand Prix in Canada

Since then the American outfit have endured various highs and lows in the sport, with their strongest finish to date being fifth place in the 2018 Teams’ Championship, while the squad’s best race result was a fourth scored in that same year by Grosjean at the Austrian Grand Prix.

Now, as they enter into their 200th race, Haas are set to mark the occasion with a special livery for the upcoming weekend in Montreal that harks back to the original design sported on their car back in 2016.

Haas will be running a special livery inspired by their 2016 design this weekend in Canada

Despite only joining the outfit full-time this year, Bearman is honoured to be a part of their continuing journey through Formula 1.

“I’m very proud of the team and how far they’ve come,” the Briton said. “Of course it’s strange to say, I’ve only been there for 10 races, but they are the youngest team in F1 and to hit such an incredible milestone of 200 races is very special.

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“I’m very happy for them and glad to have played a very small part in their fantastic journey.”

Looking back on Grosjean’s points-scoring result on Haas’ debut, Bearman added: “I’ve spoken to Romain a bit because he’s been at a few races, and listening to how far the team has come since then is a very special feeling to see as well.

“There are a few people who have been there since the beginning, like Ayao [Komatsu, Team Principal], and it’s nice to see the loyalty and how hard he has been working for us.”

Bearman hopes to deliver ‘good performance’ in Canada at Haas’ 200th race

While he would not make his own F1 debut until later in 2016 for the Manor team, Ocon can also recall Haas’ first-ever race and the moment that Grosjean claimed sixth for the squad.

“I remember Romain’s radio message saying, ‘Welcome to Formula 1, guys,’” Ocon explained during media day in Montreal. “That [P6] was pretty impressive I would say. Definitely a nice first race and we are wearing these colours this weekend, the full suit, the livery.

“We have team members’ [names] on the front wing as well written down, and it’s a nice little throwback and I hope that this will bring us luck this weekend.”

While the milestone will make this weekend’s event a “special race” for Haas, Ocon also admitted that the team need to work hard in order to keep up with their rivals.

“I think the good thing is that, when we were able to have decent pace, we’ve managed to take opportunities and get the result and score some decent points, like [in] Monaco,” the Frenchman said of the recent triple header sequence.

Ocon: Haas’ 200th GP will be a ‘special weekend’

“But we need to work a little bit more on the consistency, try and get more performance out of the car when the track doesn’t necessarily suit our package.

“We are working on all of that with the team, and I hope that we can get a little bit more out of this weekend and the next ones because obviously it’s very tight throughout the whole grid.

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“Everyone is improving, there are no people that are not dangerous at the moment so it is interesting out there. We need to be on top of our game.”

Bearman echoed those sentiments following a more challenging outing in Spain, with the Briton conceding: “It was a tough one for us in Barcelona. I think made tougher by the fact that some rivals had some good results.

“Good for them, but shows that we still have a bit of work to do. This is a big milestone race for us and I’m really happy to be here and it’s a very special moment for the entire team, but of course a good performance would be great.”