After a run of tough and inconsistent weekends, Esteban Ocon became one of the drivers to benefit most under the shaken-up Monaco race format as he claimed points with Haas for the first time since the Bahrain Grand Prix.
A range of scenarios were in play around the narrow, twisty streets of Monte Carlo as two mandatory pit stops were introduced to discourage long stints of tyre management and open up more strategic choices to counteract the lack of overtaking opportunities.
While each team approached the new rule differently, the strategy executed by Ocon’s side of the garage saw him build on his strong Qualifying performance of P8 and gain a position to finish P7, taking six points home.
This improvement was only possible due to Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso retiring from the race further ahead, but the timing of the Frenchman’s pit stops on Laps 16 and 28 helped him to secure a crucial points haul in the developing midfield battle.
Haas' strategy unfolded perfectly for Ocon
“I think it’s been a great weekend all around,” Ocon said following the race. “We really didn’t put a foot wrong from Qualifying to the race.
“We put everything together when it mattered, so really happy for that. It’s six points for the team which is a big thing, so I’m really satisfied with this.
“We did make a lot of progress all the way to Qualifying. This is super positive and we need to take that into account and really look into how we can get more consistency out of the other weekends.”
Looking ahead to the final weekend of this European triple header, he added: “Barcelona will be a very different circuit – a lot more downforce bias and more engine bias. We’ll see what we can get but so far we’ll take this one.”
Bearman's chances of scoring were massively reduced due to his grid penalty
The Monaco Grand Prix was a more downbeat affair for his team mate Ollie Bearman – he mistakenly passed Carlos Sainz whilst red flags were waved during FP2, earning him a significant 10-place grid penalty.
After exiting Q1 in 17th, Bearman was relegated to last place on the grid for the race start, and he explained that there was little he could do from there despite Haas trying a different strategy, pitting him on Lap 1 and 17.
After ultimately improving up to P12, the Briton said: “I think we did the maximum. Congrats first of all to Esteban, I’m really happy that the team scored some points today.
“That’s a really nice feeling after a difficult weekend on my side of the garage. There were no points on the table with the way the race panned out.”
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