After his five-season stint with Alpine came to an end, Esteban Ocon began a new chapter of his F1 career this year with Haas, teaming up with rookie Oliver Bearman. Among the changes and new faces at the American team, Esteban Ocon has also had the chance to work with Laura Mueller, the first female race engineer to hold this position in Formula 1, promoted by Team Principal Ayao Komatsu specifically for this season.
According to Ayao Komatsu, her promotion was the result of Mueller’s “determined character,” which was also seen as a good match for Esteban Ocon’s personality. Confirming the start of this new professional partnership, the French driver said on the Beyond the Grid podcast: “She’s a really great engineer,” he commented. “She’s gained a lot of experience across different categories. She’s done DTM, I’ve done DTM, so that’s one thing we have in common. But she’s worked in many different series and her career path is really impressive. It’s fantastic to work with her. The number of hours she puts in is truly impressive. She doesn’t count the hours.”
To highlight Laura Mueller’s personality and dedication, Esteban Ocon gave an example from the Japanese Grand Prix weekend, which proved to be particularly tough for the Frenchman: “We had a difficult race at Suzuka, but we were still in meetings and debriefs because that wasn’t the kind of performance we were aiming for, and she didn’t even get up to grab a sandwich or a drink probably the whole day,” he recalled. “She told me: ‘Esteban, I think I’ll go eat something now because it’s 7:30 or 8 p.m.’ And I said: ‘You haven’t eaten yet?’ And she said: ‘No,’ because she didn’t want to—she was buried in work.” – he pointed out.
In addition to working with his new race engineer, Esteban Ocon also spoke about his relationship with Haas after the first races of the season, once again praising the environment: “My first impression of the team is that it feels like a big family,” he added. “The team welcomed me in such a way that I felt at home immediately. It’s really a new beginning for me. I feel like I’m integrating very well with everyone, and everyone is motivated to get results. They’re proud of everything they do when they do it. That’s fantastic, because if you’re not proud of your work then there’s no point in doing it. It’s really great to be part of a team like this and to hope we can continue progressing this year. The atmosphere, the family feeling, is very similar to what I experienced at Force India, but this team isn’t small. It feels like a big team because of the results it’s achieving. When we need something, it arrives faster than in the past. Ayao could tell you a lot about where we can improve, but it doesn’t feel small to me because the quality of the work is truly impressive. It doesn’t feel like we’re lacking people because everyone is trying to meet my needs in the best way possible.”
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