For the Haas Formula 1 team the Mexican GP saw a dream result, with Ollie Bearman’s fourth place and ninth for Esteban Ocon allowing it to jump Sauber for eighth in the World Championship.
The focus is now firmly ahead, with Aston Martin and Racing Bulls both within a 10 point range.
Mexico was just reward for a well-executed weekend, with Bearman obviously doing a brilliant job in the cockpit and the team making a smart strategy call that ultimately paid off.
It also came in the wake of the decision to introduce an upgrade package at the US GP that only has a life of six race weekends in order to provide a late season boost in the constructors’ battle. That already paid off on its debut in Austin with a ninth place for Bearman, and Mexico brought more vindication.
“We’re definitely happy,” team boss Ayao Komatsu told this writer. “Without the upgrade, I don’t think we could have had the Austin result, I don’t think we could have had this result.
“So it’s already proven that regardless of championship position, because like I keep saying, a result is a result, you cannot 100% control that. Let’s face it, we moved up one position, but they [Sauber] are only two points behind. It’s nothing, absolutely nothing.
“All I’m trying to say is we’ve just got to try the get the best out of the car and drive and execute every single race weekend. If we do that, I’m sure we can move up. But there’s just no point counting the points.”
The team now has its sights set on getting ahead of both Aston Martin and Racing Bulls over the course of these last four race weekends.
“Even before I said P6 is possible,” said Komatsu. “But again, it’s just no point thinking like that. A 22 points gap with six races remaining – of course, it was possible, but there’s no point thinking, how are we going to get 23 points? It may not happen. But that’s out of our control, right?
“That we suddenly got 14 points, great, it’s now 10 points to P6. But again, it’s not about how are we going to get 10 points? It’s more about how are we going to start Brazil FP1? Make sure we get the sprint quali right.
“If we do everything right, we can score points in the sprint. And then that puts us another step ahead for main quali and race. So I think it’s very important for us to focus what’s in front of us, and that mindset, honestly, is the one let us make the right decision for the second pit stop [in Mexico].
“Imagine if we were too hung up on the podium?. I’m sure we would have lost the podium with Max coming through. I’m not sure if we could have hung on to P4 with Piastri coming through with the new tyre. So yeah, I think the mindset is very important.”
That strategy call was a difficult one to make, but it was the right one, and it showed signs of clear thought and a good process.
Bearman was running in an unexpected P3, and he had the option to stay out, run to the flag, and try to hold on.
However when cars behind pitted they not only gave themselves fresh tyres with which to fight, but also helped Max Verstappen to have a clearer run at the Haas. The team decided that a solid shot at P4 was better than risking all trying to hold on to third and potentially tumbling down the order in the closing laps. The collective head ruled the heart.
“At that point we were going for the one stop,” Komatsu explained. “So if nobody pitted, we’d have just stayed out and done the one-stop, because I think Max would have got stuck in the DRS train. He wouldn’t have been able to overtake.
“But the minute those two cars behind made a pit stop, that means Max had George [Russell] to go through, then us to go through, pick us off one by one. He would have done that. Then we already made 70% decision to box after those two cars pitted, but as soon as we heard that George is boxing as well, there was no doubt.”
Giving up P3 was the logical move: “We’d only lose position to Max, and he was going to overtake us anyway. So that wasn’t about covering for undercut, it was just about those guys are already converted, and Max was going to come through, so we had nothing to lose.
“Max has got tyre delta. That’s probably why those two guys decided we’re not going to be able to defend. So as soon as we lost that buffer of cars, it’s not going to happen. And you saw how close Max finished with Leclerc, then you saw how much behind we were compared to Leclerc.
“So imagine Max had completely taken us easily, and then how far we’re going to drop back against those cars who made a second stop? So for me, at that point, it’s what’s in front of us? What’s our objective? We’ve got to make sure we get P4.”
Bearman had put his car in a podium position with an early charge that saw him fighting with drivers in the top teams.
“That was good racing, right?,” said Komatsu. “That was amazing, out of Turn 6. That was great racing. And then first stint we had Max behind. Second stint, we had a Mercedes behind. Third stint we had a Mercedes and McLaren behind. I mean, what a privilege to be racing against those top guys.”
Bearman has had something of a messy first full season, getting into scrapes and earning a few penalties, and a good result was just what he needed.
“We’ve been working with Ollie, of course, continuously,” Komatsu noted. “And like I said so many times, his potential is no question. It’s about harnessing that, managing to build up the weekend, nurturing that talent.
“Singapore was very good. Austin was again, very good, but a couple of things, in the sprint, and then the race, incidents. In Mexico missing FP1, jumping in for FP2, bang. And then such a tight qualifying.”
“And then essentially the entire race he was fighting against three top teams, Red Bull, Mercedes, McLaren – teams we shouldn’t be fighting. So that is amazing. Track position, free air so much more important. It’s important everywhere. But here with all the temperature restrictions, it’s so important.”
There are fine margins in the midfield these days, and just missing out on Q3 consigned Ocon to a much more difficult race, hampered by traffic. The Frenchman also didn’t feel well during the weekend.
“Austin, the high speed stability, he still struggled, whereas Ollie got the most out of it,” said Komatsu. “This circuit he got everything out of it. He’s not being well this weekend, all the way through, he had a massive headache.
“You look at Esteban’s quali performance. He lost Q3 by three hundredths. He was five-hundredths behind Ollie. They’re basically the same pace all the way through this weekend.
“And then during the race, what obviously made Esteban’s race more difficult was he was stuck behind Tsunoda. During the first stint, he was very happy with the car. He was clearly quicker than Tsunoda. He had a very similar pace to Piastri, so he had the same pace as Ollie. What kills you is the traffic.”
So what then of the last four races – can Bearman and Ocon find enough points to move the team to P7 or P6?
“Honestly, I’ll be least looking forward to Vegas, because it’s a long straight again,” said Komatsu. “In low downforce we are not as competitive, but most of the circuits, like Brazil, Qatar, Abu Dhabi, should be OK. Honestly, because margins are so small, there’s no point looking too far ahead.”
Adam Cooper F1 