Ocon sees himself within Hamilton: 'The Haas and Ferrari car have many similarities'

Esteban Ocon joined Haas at the start of the 2025 season after spending a number of years with the Alpine team. The Frenchman has had a solid start to life with the American team and sits ninth in the standings with 14 points, settling well in his new home.

Ocon was asked by media if he's surprised if Hamilton is still struggling with Ferrari, to which he stated that he wasn't, as the huge change cannot be underestimated.

"Yeah, I think it's very difficult. And especially when you change car philosophy because the Haas or the Ferrari car have a lot of similarities. So I can relate a little bit to Lewis on that side. Having driven the Merc as well in the past, it's a very different way of driving the car. Or extracting the potential of it. And yeah, the car feels very different. So it's not easy, for sure, to adapt to that," Ocon explained to GPblog and other media present.

He continued: "I think if you come from junior formulas and you go straight into that car, you put everything that you've learned away, and you just go into it, and you learn the new thing again. Now with our experience, I mean, Lewis has much more experience than me. He's driven a lot of different cars, but a lot of the same ones as well for a long time."

Hamilton hasn't had the most exciting start to life with Ferrari. His best results this season have come in both sprint races. He finished in first in the Chinese sprint, and third last weekend in Miami as he continues to settle down after spending over a decade with Mercedes.