Esteban Ocon converted his P8 grid slot into a P7 finish at the Monaco GP, his best finish of the year since round two in China.
The Frenchman’s points helped Haas retain 6th in the standings, despite VCARB also securing a strong result.
At a circuit with very specific and extreme demands, the VF-25 once again proved itself a strong package.
In a season where Ferrari, who Haas buy many parts from, have struggled, the American team’s efforts are particularly impressive.
Team principal Ayao Komatsu is confident Haas can maintain their form throughout the next few rounds.
Haas deliver, rivals still competitive
Perhaps more than any other team in F1, Haas have capitalised on every opportunity to score points in 2025.
Whenever they have been capable of a top 10 result, from China to Japan to Monaco, they have converted.
The same cannot be said of other midfield teams, who are guilty of missing opportunities to increase their 2025 tallies.
VCARB’s poor strategies in Australia and China are examples of this, whilst Aston Martin have plenty of unforced errors in the first eight rounds.
In this respect, Ayao Komatsu deserves praise for making Haas such an efficient machine.
From an operational perspective, the US outfit do not operate like a team with a fraction of the personnel at other teams – although this is the case.
Upgrades at the beginning of the season immediately corrected the VF-25’s main weaknesses, putting them in a strong position to contend.
They have maintained this momentum since then, setting themselves up for another strong year in the midfield.
In many ways, misfortune – such as Bearman’s Q1 elimination in Imola and 10-place penalty in Monaco – has denied Haas more points.
Still, they can be satisfied with their campaign until now.
Ayao Komatsu pleased with Monaco haul
Speaking after the race, Ayao Komatsu was pleased to see Haas put more points on the board.
At the same time, he was frustrated that Bearman could not capitalise on his strong pace and secure a top 10 result.
“It’s great for the team to get P7 with Esteban. Of course, there were so many scenarios in this race – so starting P8 and finishing P7 was a really good result.
“With Ollie starting from P20 we had to try something different, and we didn’t quite get it right in terms of execution, but we tried everything.
“There were cars in front playing certain games so he couldn’t make progress.
“But at some point, if it wasn’t for the extreme gamesmanship, he would’ve had the chance to get up to P10.
“I think that’s the best we could’ve done, but Ollie did have the pace this weekend, so he’s learned a lot and it puts him in good stead for next year.”
As has been mentioned previously, the Spanish GP will see a new technical directive implemented.
This change is unlikely to affect Haas, who will be ready to pounce if any front-runners are impacted by the changes:
“The good thing was that the car was quick and drivers had pace.
“So the next race in Barcelona, it’s a high-downforce circuit with a couple of high-speed corners, I think we’re looking forward to it.”
Main photo: Peter Fox/LAT Images (via Haas F1 Media gallery)
