One of the essential influences on F1 driver weekends is the position that race engineers play.
After finishing a four-year stint at Alpine, Esteban Ocon is tying a bond with a model new race engineer who switched to HAAS for its 2025 marketing campaign.
Ocon is working with Laura Mueller. Laura Mueller grew to become F1’s first feminine race engineer earlier this yr. It is a promotion that displays the regular change in sports activities to grow to be extra inclusive.
They get pleasure from a history-making partnership alongside the way in which of their first season and Ocon.
“We’re completely rushing up ‘sure’,” Ocon advised crash.web in an unique interview with Silverstone. “Laura works very onerous, I work onerous together with her and ensure she’s as optimized as doable all through the weekend.
“It was nice to work together with her. On my aspect of the storage, Laura is main lots of people. I’ve Sacha (Fouquet), a younger efficiency engineer coming from F2, and a microphone (Dawkins) doing all of the mapping and extra.
“We are able to all the time do nicely, however taking a look at how we took the chance as of late, it was actually wonderful. After we had the chance to take it with us within the automotive, we seized all of the alternatives there have been.
Mueller’s decisive persona and hardworking nature made her an excellent teammate for Ocon.
Ocon and Mueller are already forming a powerful partnership
“She does not rely the hours,” explains the Frenchman. “She’s actually curious about particulars like I do. I generally get to double examine issues up for tiny little particulars.
“That is not that I do not belief folks. I simply need to perceive myself why we made these selections. There is not any hidden gem. If we expect that is inconceivable, we’ll say that.
“If Laura thinks I can enhance this explicit factor, she’ll inform me. If she thinks she will be able to enhance that individual factor, I will inform her. We’re on the identical boat so we have to transfer ahead.
“It’s extremely robust and excellent, nevertheless it’s an extended season so you must take care of one another all yr spherical. Staying wholesome and excessive power is essential.
“For instance, I did not really feel good in Austria, so I feel Laura feels unhealthy. We made certain she had the appropriate nutritional vitamins and stuff so she might spend the weekend.
“It will probably occur with these double headers and you may meet so many individuals and issues like that. It is good to play as soon as, however you must play 24 instances. That is an enormous factor.”
Appropriate for brand spanking new properties, automobiles and engines
In addition to constructing new relationships with Haas’s technical staff, Ocon is adapting to a brand new surroundings. In simply six months in American outfit, he already feels fully residence.
“It feels good,” he mentioned. “We’re nonetheless engaged on one thing crucial to us, however we be taught in regards to the automotive each weekend and work on small particulars each time we exit and it really works rather well for the entire staff.
“I am very mounted on the entire staff and the concepts and motivations they’ve. It is all very straightforward for racing. There’s just one concept behind it. You get extra efficiency from the automotive, repair the problems and reply to the state of affairs.
“I’ve by no means discovered it on each staff. I can inform you, that is an excellent factor, as a result of there’s not all politics greater than actual sports activities.
The Ocon needed to adapt to the brand new automotive, the Haas’ VF-25 Challenger. The latest updates have helped to repair a few of the early bedding points Ocon confronted.
Ocon recorded the very best ends in China, fifth place
“I labored to seek out out the place the issue lies, and now I hope that with that new replace, I’ll transfer within the course of improvement I found earlier this yr,” he defined.
“So, I hope that the whole lot we have labored on will profit us from this, so I sit up for seeing if it helps us.”
The Ocon is one in all a number of drivers going by way of the difference course of this yr, when switching groups within the winter.
On paper, it seems to have gone easily for Ocon, who sits in tenth place within the championship, which gained 23 of Haas’s 29 factors in 2025.
“It definitely wasn’t straightforward. There was lots of new issues to be taught after I joined this staff,” he mentioned. “I feel we did a very good job attempting to make each state of affairs, each element, huge ones fairly rapidly, to not see. Then we labored on small issues.
“The rationale it is nonetheless troublesome is as a result of the automotive hasn’t been developed by me. I nonetheless discovered some limitations at this second on some issues that I am not happy with.
“So now we now have a bundle that we particularly need to go in the appropriate course to repair the small steadiness points I’ve. The staff is basically good at responding to this.”
Ocon additionally needed to adapt to the Ferrari energy items beforehand pushed by Mercedes and Renault engines.
“General, all of us have the identical instruments, however we simply sorted them out in a different way,” Ocon replied when requested in regards to the problem of greedy a brand new energy unit.
“Some issues are excellent. Some issues are very totally different, however total it was an enormous step in the appropriate course for me.
“It isn’t my approach, so I do not criticise others, however I discovered that I am very happy with what makes it straightforward to get on the staff and do the job instantly.”
