Esteban Ocon Fumes After Yellow Flag Ruins Baku Qualifying as Haas Miss Out on Q3
Esteban Ocon and Ollie Bearman experienced mixed emotions following a competitive yet agonizing Qualifying session for Haas at the Baku City Circuit, where late disruptions prevented both drivers from securing spots in Q3.
Having spent portions of the season struggling to escape Q1, Haas displayed much-improved pace around the streets of Baku. Ocon showed strong single-lap speed with P10 in Q1, but his final attempt in Q2 was derailed approaching Turn 15 due to a yellow flag, leaving him stranded in 14th.
A visibly frustrated Ocon did not hide his disappointment after climbing out of the cockpit.
“Unbelievable,” Ocon said. “We were on for a Q3 lap, the car was working well. We don't have many chances like this when the car is working well. It hasn’t been working throughout the whole season. We improved things, but we had a Q3 car today.
“And the yellow flag, basically. I got a gust of wind the lap before, but I was on for a Q3 lap as well, and then I did the same lap time again, arriving to Turn 15. I don’t know who went off, but I had to back off on the exit to make sure that I was not going to get any penalty.
“And yeah, I did exactly the same lap time, so I lost what, three, four tenths, with that? Unbelievable. I just have no words.”
Reflecting on an arduous campaign compounded by bad luck, the Frenchman added: “It’s a different race weekend, same s***. It’s always something going on on my side, if it’s either the car, if it's something else, now yellow flag, Safety Cars, whatever. But I don’t deserve all the s*** I have on my back at the moment. So, I don’t know. I might need to take a good shower...”
Bearman Takes Positives Despite Narrow Q3 Elimination
Teammate Ollie Bearman finished just outside the top 10 in 11th position after completing his final run earlier than rivals and getting edged out in the closing seconds of Q2.
“We did it quite early,” Bearman explained. “I caught the yellow flag on my final lap, and I was doing the same lap time, but I also had a better track position, I had a better slipstream, so maybe I would have had a bit more lap time in it. But for me, the tyres were their best a bit earlier in the session on Lap 2, when I did my lap.”
Despite the narrow exit, the young Briton remains optimistic regarding Haas's recent performance trajectory following updates brought to the car.
“I think it’s an invigorating feeling,” Bearman noted. “And as much as it really sucks to be knocked out, the fact that we’re even considering to be in Q3 means that we’re doing something right. And the car has been strong since Monza, since we brought the update. It’s incredibly strong in low-speed as well. It’s just a shame that we lose so much on the straights.”