Esteban Ocon continued his prep for F1 2025 with Haas after a seat fit, as he recalls his time at Maranello when Lewis Hamilton arrived for his first day at Ferrari.
Having had an early start to his Haas career, Ocon has been busy preparing for the 2025 F1 season. Amid the string of simulator days which included a Testing Previous Car programme, the Frenchman spent time at the team’s Banbury base to have his seat fit in the new car.
Ocon is taking the Haas move in a methodical manner and preparing as much in the simulator at Maranello. Since the American outfit doesn’t have a simulator of its own, the F1 drivers use the one at Ferrari’s headquarters where a good number of the Haas personnel work from.
Recalling his simulator day, Ocon noted about being at Maranello when Hamilton had his first day to start his new journey with the Italian manufacturer. Much has already been shared by the Brit and also Ferrari, but the Frenchman shared his first hand view of crazy atmosphere.
“I was lucky enough to be in the same place on the same day because I was also at the Ferrari simulator,” said Ocon in an interview on Canal+. “There was a crazy atmosphere, people were going crazy and it’s just wonderful to see that there’s so much passion for Ferrari, for F1 of course, in the world and that it’s growing all the time.
“It’s clear that to have the greatest driver of our generation in the most successful team is just something crazy. So yeah, I can’t wait to be able to fight on track with him, that’s for sure,” summed up Ocon. He has shared time and space with Hamilton at Mercedes when the Frenchman served as the team’s reserve driver after he was dropped by Racing Point (now Aston Martin).
Here’s Haas noting of its personnel
Here’s Haas undertaking first TPC run
Here’s Ayao Komatsu on Esteban Ocon’s motivation
Here’s Kevin Magnussen on Haas discussions
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