Austrian Grand Prix: Race Recap

Ocon started the race – which was reduced to 70 laps due to an aborted start – from 17th place on Pirelli P Zero Yellow medium tires, and gained three spots across a chaotic opening lap. Ocon cycled his way through the midfield pack before pitting on lap 19 for White hard rubber, overhauling Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, prior to making his second pit stop on lap 51, switching to another set of the hard compound. Ocon passed Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar in the closing stint to move into the top 10, adding another point to his and MoneyGram Haas F1 Team’s tally.

Bearman took the start from 15th position on Red soft tires and also picked up three positions through the first lap to run 12th. Bearman slotted by on Franco Colapinto before pitting on lap 11 for hard tires, and made his second stop on lap 39 for a set of Yellow mediums. Bearman followed Ocon home to classify in 11th position.

MoneyGram Haas F1 Team holds seventh position in the Constructors’ Championship, on 29 points.

Up front Lando Norris of McLaren led teammate Oscar Piastri for a one-two result, with Scuderia Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc third.

Ollie Bearman:

“It was a good race overall, we made good progress. On the first stint on softs, I had a good opening stint but it left us with a lot to do on the next two sets of tires. We really struggled in the middle stint and that’s where my race came undone. The final run was a bit better but I had to go quite early onto the mediums, so it was another long stint. Overall, I’m glad with the progress we made getting to P11 and P10 with Esteban, we had good race pace today.”

Esteban Ocon:

“I’m very happy, looking at where we were in qualifying it’s a great recovery by the whole team. We got a point for consolation but it means a lot as it shows we have a really good race car, we just need a bit more in qualifying, trying to get a bit more performance. The car was very solid and reliable, and I thank the team for that – as we ended in the interesting positions at the end. It was tough racing out there today, how I like it, but it was a bit too tough perhaps because it could’ve cost us a lot more – but we should be pleased with the point.”

Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal:

“To get to P10 from P17 is positive – normally a very good result. What’s not as good is with Esteban I think we could’ve done even better. Esteban’s driving was really good, his first and second stints were so strong, I feel we may have pitted just a bit early on the first stop. That eliminated the chance to do a one-stop race with him which I think we could’ve done with his tire management and pace. On Ollie’s side his first stint on softs was good, and the pit stop was good, but it was the second stint on hard tires where he just had no pace and fell backward. We don’t understand that yet, so we need to look into it. It’s good we scored a point but our competitors scored more so we have some catching up to do in Silverstone. We have a new package coming for the next race, so we need to get the maximum out of it – a tenth makes a big difference – so we need to be on it.”