Berman: The Melbourne circuit has unique features

      Haas F1 begins the 2025 season with a completely updated lineup: now 19-year-old Briton Oliver Berman and 28-year-old Frenchman Esteban Ocon are playing for the American team. The experienced professional has already won 156 Grand Prix events, of which he has won one and reached the podium in three more.

      For Berman, a graduate of the Ferrari Racing Academy, this will be his first full season, but it's impossible to call him a Formula 1 debutant, after all, he ran three races for Ferrari and Haas last year and has already opened the scoring account.

      Ayo Komatsu, team principal: "I'm really looking forward to returning to Melbourne. We have good memories of this track, although there are also bad ones, but if we talk about the results, it was in Melbourne in 2016 that the team held its debut race, in which it took 6th place.

      The Australian circuit is very difficult because it is, in fact, an urban ring, which is characterized by a low level of grip and difficulties with overtaking. The track is difficult for the riders, for the car, and for the team.

      Based on the results of the pre-season tests, we can see that there are a lot of positive aspects, and I really want to see what we can achieve in Melbourne. If we can put everything together, and that's exactly the task, if we get the most out of the car and our drivers do their best, then we can compete for good results."

      Oliver Berman: "The offseason has been long, that's for sure, so I'm glad that we finally went to Melbourne and started the season. I can't wait to see what he's cooking for us.

      The route in Albert Park is interesting, it is laid around the lake, it has a number of unique features, and the beautiful scenery against the backdrop of the city makes a strong impression.

      The track is unique in that it is characterized by numerous sections with a transverse slope of the roadway, which creates additional difficulties for the riders – this is generally the only circuit in the entire calendar where we encounter this.

      Most of all, I look forward to sharing the joy of my full-fledged Formula 1 debut with my family and the people I love. Last year, when I was competing in Formula 2 at Albert Park, I took a walk around Melbourne, and I was very pleased to see the enthusiastic support of the local public. I'm looking forward to meeting the Australian fans and hope that we can put on a great show for them."

      Esteban Ocon: "It's great that the season is starting again in Australia. As a child, when I watched Formula 1 races, the Albert Park race was always the first on the calendar, and now I feel special emotions, because this is where I will start for the first time as part of Haas.

      We always get great support in Australia, especially when we walk down the alley called Melbourne Walk towards the paddock. We see this genuine enthusiasm, we see how Melbourne turns into a real "Formula 1 City" during the race week.

      Albert Park is a wonderful track, and as its configuration has changed over the years and the asphalt surface has been updated, the speeds here have gradually increased. It will not be easy for the teams and drivers to set up the cars correctly, given that the turns here are very fast.

      Some difficulties are related to the need to adapt to a different time zone, but we have our own action plan for this, and now I just want to test the VF-25 machine for the first time in real business."