The French driver, who ended his long association with Alpine to join the American team for 2025, is adapting to a host of changes, including the unfamiliar Ferrari power unit.

After years of working with Mercedes and Renault power units, Ocon experienced the  Ferrari  engine  for the first time during post-season testing in Abu Dhabi, driving Haas’ 2024-spec VF-24.

Despite his initial surprise, the Frenchman has since adapted to the new system and now sees many positives in the Italian engine.

An initial shock, but many positives

Reflecting on his first test with the Ferrari engine, Ocon admitted it took him by surprise.

“It was a bit of a shock at first in Abu Dhabi, but on track, performance-wise, it’s working really well and adapting very well to the power of the car. So yeah, everything’s going well on that front,” he said during pre-season testing in Bahrain, as quoted by   Motorsport Week.

Switching from Mercedes and Renault powertrains to the Ferrari engine required a change in how Ocon approached the   car ‘s systems and controls . However, he quickly acknowledged that despite the steep learning curve, there were some positives.

“Yes, of course there are differences,” Ocon said during pre-season testing in Bahrain. “I’m not going to comment on the differences themselves, but there are a lot of positives with the Ferrari power units and initially it’s a very different way of using all the systems.

“But we’ve simplified it a lot and it now seems much more common than how I would have imagined using it.”

Adapting to a new powertrain

Ocon isn’t the only driver adapting to a new power unit in 2025. Carlos Sainz, who switched from Ferrari to Williams over the winter, also highlighted the challenges of switching engine manufacturers.

He revealed that getting used to the Mercedes powertrain has been the biggest change so far

“That’s definitely the thing you feel the most when you change teams, the moment there’s a power unit involved, it’s the power unit,” Sainz explained.

“The noises, the vibrations, the sound, everything changes completely. So even though I went into the field trying to understand the aerodynamics, the tires and the feeling of the mechanical aspects of the car, the one thing I had to adapt to for the first few laps was how different a power unit can be.

“So yeah, that’s probably the biggest change.

“The way the power unit works in terms of switches, especially nowadays in Formula 1 with so many things happening on our steering wheels, with deployment, the battery, things like that, the procedures, the safety procedures of the engine and the power unit, that’s definitely the biggest change I’ve had to adapt to so far at Williams.”

Moving forward with Haas

For Ocon, the challenge lies not only in mastering the Ferrari engine, but also in maximising its potential to complement the strengths of the Haas chassis.