Esteban Ocon was left rueing what could’ve been after Haas walked away having not scored points in the Belgian Grand Prix.
Haas were feeling good after they managed a double points finish in the Sprint race, although it would turn out to be a difficult qualifying session.
Both their cars just missed out on Q3 after opting for differing car setups, with Ocon initially ahead of Oliver Bearman, who opted for a wet-weather setup.
In the race, they struggled to progress, with Bearman finishing in 11th place while Ocon went on to finish further down in 15th place,
Discussing his race with F1 TV, Ocon criticised Haas for making two “costly mistakes” that prevented him from getting any more points.
Photo by Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty ImagesEsteban Ocon spent most of the Belgian Grand Prix on used tyres
The race was initially red-flagged due to the wet weather conditions, but when it got going it took only 11 laps before drivers were able to switch from intermediates to slick tyres.
Ocon blamed Haas for putting him on used medium tyres for his lack of progression, despite having his car set up specifically for a dry race.
“We got today completely wrong, and we need to put everything together as a team. We had a decent car, which showed later on when it was dry, especially as we were on a used set of tyres when we had a new one ready for us,” said Ocon.
“So that was the first of the two big mistakes, the other one was staying out too many laps too long on the Intermediate. We boxed too late on that, but two very costly mistakes that didn’t help our race. 85% of the race I did with an old tyre, which is performance lost.”
Oliver Bearman joins Lewis Hamilton with one stat after Belgian Grand Prix
Bearman joins Lewis Hamilton after he finished the Belgian GP in 11th place with the most consecutive finishes in a position that isn’t first.
The Briton has finished in 11th place for the fourth time in a row in a Grand Prix, having done so at the British, Austrian and Canadian Grands Prix.
Other drivers who have the accolade include Nelson Piquet, Heinz-Harold Frentzen, Michele Alboreto, Mark Webber, and Robert Kubica.