Ocon hoping Haas can ‘get back where we belong’ in Canada as Bearman admits Spain ‘exposed a few weaknesses’

Haas drivers Esteban Ocon and Ollie Bearman are looking to bounce back at the next round on the calendar in Canada after a challenging weekend at the Spanish Grand Prix saw them end the race down in P16 and P17 respectively.

There have been mixed fortunes for the squad across the triple header, with a particular highlight being a P7 finish for Ocon in Monaco. However, fortune was not on their side in Barcelona as the decision to keep Ocon out on track during a late Safety Car – meaning that he was running on older medium tyres – resulted in him slipping down the order at the restart.

POWER RANKINGS: Who impressed our judges across a dramatic Spanish Grand Prix weekend?

Reflecting back on his afternoon at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, the Frenchman said: “We tried to stay obviously on the used tyres on the last Safety Car – we were going to go at the back of the grid so it was not really worth it.

“But yeah, end of the triple header for us, obviously some positives and a little bit more difficult at times, but thanks for the team for the support that they gave us during this triple. I think it’s good now that we are going into a week where we can analyse things and hopefully come back stronger.”

Ocon ‘looking to get back to where we belong’ in Canada

Given that aforementioned strong outing in Monte Carlo, Ocon is hopeful that the team can repeat such a performance at the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve.

“We’ll take the positives out of the races that we had like Monaco, obviously Canada is another street circuit, so looking to get back where we belong in the next one,” the 28-year-old added.

Bearman, meanwhile, looked to potentially be in with a shot of battling for points in Spain, but the Briton was handed a 10-second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage during a battle with Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson, dropping him down the order to the back of the field.

“It was going okay,” Bearman reflected after the race. “Unfortunately we weren’t quite able to fight for any points today, but I think we made progress over the weekend and the car has been feeling a bit better today than it did on Friday and Saturday in long runs, so that’s positive.

Spanish Grand Prix ‘exposed a few weaknesses with our race pace’ – Bearman

“Unfortunately at the Safety Car we lost a little bit, which is a shame but it happens.”

When pushed on what he and the squad can take from the triple header, Bearman acknowledged that the warm temperatures in Barcelona appeared to highlight issues with their race pace in comparison to their rivals.

F1 NATION: Piastri wins in dominant style as Verstappen gets everyone talking – it’s our Spain GP review

“I think we struggled a bit more for pace this weekend relative to the others, but overall we’ve had a good showing in the previous three rounds,” the 20-year-old continued.

“I think there’s a lot to take from it, a lot to learn, particularly from this weekend which was incredibly hot, and I think we exposed a few weaknesses with our race pace, but moving on to Canada I’m looking forward to it.”