Autobayng News Team
Esteban Ocon has developed a reputation for tangling with his team mates, be they Sergio Perez or Pierre Gasly.
Therefore when Haas announced he would partner rookie Oliver Bearman as part of an all-new line-up this year, some conjectured it was a matter of when, not if, the pair would collide.
Sure enough, the pair did clash in the last round at Silverstone. But this didn’t look like the culmination of simmering, season-long intra-team tension. The pair have shown strengths in different areas, produced some good results for Haas and their British Grand Prix clash was an unfortunate racing incident.
Bearman impressed with his practice session appearances for Haas and points-scoring appearances as a substitute for them and Ferrari last year. His debut season so far has been a mixed bag.
There’s no doubt Bearman can turn on the single-lap pace. His appearance in Q3 at Suzuka was especially impressive, he was arguably robbed of a better starting position at Imola through a strange call by race control and has consistently had the upper hand over Ocon lately.
However Bearman’s race pace has been less strong, a detail reflected in his lower points-scoring rate (notwithstanding the unsafe release penalty which cost him in the Miami sprint race). He has also paid the price for some costly red flag errors.
Meanwhile Ocon has delivered more consistently on race day, beginning with that excellent run to fifth at Shanghai. He’s followed that up with four more appearances in the top 10 since then, something Bearman hasn’t managed since Bahrain – he just took his third consecutive 11th place.
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This is one of several midfield pairings between a rookie and a veteran on the 2025 grid. Rather like the Sauber pairing, the experienced hand has taken the best results so far but the newcomer has the potential to produce something special in the second half of the season.
Bearman vs Ocon: Summary
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Bearman vs Ocon: Race-by-race
| AUS | CHI | JAP | BAH | SAU | MIA | EMI | MON | SPA | CAN | AUT | GBR | ||
| Bearman | Q |  |  |  | | | | | | | | | |
| R | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Bearman vs Ocon: One-lap pace
Unrepresentative comparisons omitted. Negative value: Bearman was faster; Positive value: Ocon was faster
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