Ocon’s Haas Overhaul: Steering & Clutch Revamp Success

Esteban Ocon adapted Haas’s F1 controls, reshaping his steering and clutch setup to match years of racing habits for peak performance.

Esteban Ocon admitted that Haas F1 had given him a “late Christmas present” by adapting his steering wheel for the VF-25.

Ocon is used to a dual-paddle clutch system on his steering wheel and did his best to adapt to a single-paddle system when he joined Haas.

The Frenchman felt it was not “safe” and was surprised that Haas managed to handle the situation quickly (as Ferrari did for Hamilton, read here) and provide him with a suitable clutch system for testing at the Bahrain International Circuit.

“There are many things you have to adapt to, and if you can’t adapt to what you need to adapt to, then you have to change things,” he told us.

“So we decided, for example, that I would have a brand-new steering wheel with two clutch paddles.”

“I’ve worked this way and tried the other way, but I had quite a bit of difficulty, and the team managed to give me a late Christmas present, I would say, which was a good thing.”

“These are things that usually take a long time, and it’s great that it was done in such a short time.”

Ocon’s new teammate, Oliver Bearman, revealed on Wednesday that he was perfectly comfortable driving with a single-paddle clutch system.

Ocon, however, who made his F1 debut in 2016, has long been accustomed to a dual-paddle system and explained why switching now was not a viable option.

“First of all, when leaving the garage, if you only have one paddle on the right, how do you do it?”

“You have to hold the steering wheel with one hand and not at its end, which is very problematic.”

“Or during a pit stop, when turning left or right, I didn’t feel safe, my hand wasn’t in the right position.”

“But also, given the way I wanted my paddle to be designed, it suits me better to have two paddles as I do now, and it has worked well so far.”

Overall, Ocon was impressed with how Haas responded to the changes he wanted to make.

Steering wheels and clutch paddles are elements a driver must be comfortable with, and when switching teams, they can be among the most important things to resolve quickly.

“But these are the visible things; there are many other aspects, like my position in the cockpit, which we managed to fix very quickly, which was a good thing.”

“And there are also many technical elements on the steering wheel that we have been able to move to the same place I have been using for almost 10 years now, since Force India.”