Esteban Ocon met his current team boss back in 2014 during a test for Lotus: Ayao Komatsu may have changed since then, but his attention to detail has not
Even the boldest optimists at Haas probably didn’t expect this result: Esteban Ocon takes a sensational fifth place in China – of course, the Frenchman benefits from disqualifications by the competition, but this does not change the result: Ocon is seventh in the drivers’ championship after the first two rounds, even ahead of both Ferrari drivers. In the Constructors’ Championship, Haas is currently also in sixth place
Before the race in Shanghai, team boss Ayao Komatsu had expressed his shock at Haas’ large deficit. Perhaps also because the Japanese driver always keeps a close eye on things, and nothing else escapes his notice, as protégé Ocon reveals: “It’s rare for a team boss to still be in the garage at 10:30 at night,
Komatsu always pays close attention to “whether everything fits – whether the car is running normally, whether the bodywork fits perfectly, whether there are no gaps between the parts. He is there every time the car starts,” reveals Ocon.
