Revealed: The F1 2024 star who rivals Sebastian Vettel’s ‘very relentless’ work ethic
Sebastian Vettel.
Former Aston Martin strategy chief Bernie Collins explained that four-time World Champion Sebastian Vettel and Esteban Ocon are a “close tie” when it comes to work ethic.
Before working with Sebastian Vettel at Aston Martin as the team’s head strategist, Collins was there for the Racing Point and Force India eras, during that time working with Esteban Ocon, who later went on to join Renault/Alpine and now Haas from F1 2025.
Sebastian Vettel and Esteban Ocon work ethic praised
And it would be these two drivers which Collins – speaking during the James Allen on F1 podcast – picked out for their work ethic, describing Vettel as “very relentless”, yet Ocon was right there in that regard, having “had quite a hard in to F1” not coming from a wealthy background.
Asked to name the hardest-working driver she has worked with, Collins said: “Oh, that’s a tough question, but I think it’s probably the same answer for both actually. I think the person who was the hardest working was probably Sebastian Vettel.
“In that he was very relentless in terms of looking for improvement. Particularly when he first joined us. Looking for improvement, where things could be found.
“Probably actually quite a close tie between him and Esteban Ocon. Ocon had quite a hard in to F1 and really, really wanted it to work. So those two actually worked quite hard I think in the background.”
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But when it came to the driver who most understood the strategical side, Collins said Vettel reigns supreme there over all the drivers she has worked with as part of a strategy role, which, as well as Ocon, also includes the likes of Nico Hulkenberg, Sergio Perez and Lance Stroll.
“The person who understood strategy the most that I’ve worked with, I would say, is Sebastian,” said Collins. “And I think that comes down to experience.
“He understood what his strategy might be, what the strategies for all the other cars might be.
“He was the first one in the strategy meeting to go, ‘Have you looked at the race in 19 whatever it is and what happened there?’ And I was like, ‘I have no idea what happened in that race.’
“But he really understood and he’d often come up with quite good suggestions really about, ‘Well, what if this car goes very early, or that?’ And he really got what we were trying to achieve, I think, a lot of the time, in terms of strategy and what the implications might be.”
Collins began her Formula 1 journey with McLaren back in 2013 as a performance engineer, working alongside Jenson Button from 2014.
And Collins said she was “struck” by the mental capacity of Formula 1 drivers when placed with Button, who would be observing what was going on via the TV screens while out on the track.
“I didn’t work with him for very long, but the first person I worked with was Jenson in 2014 as a performance engineer, not as a strategist,” Collins continued.
“But I guess maybe because he was the first, I was struck by how much he took in from the TV. He’d come back in after a qualifying lap or whatever, and he’d say, ‘Oh, I’ve seen that XYZ happened’. ‘How did you see that?’ And he’s like, ‘Oh, on the TV’.
“So the guys, particularly when they’re in a straight, are able to take in… Like a straight for us, we’d be holding on for dear life, right? Or they’re doing their switch positions or whatever. But for those guys, their mental capacity when they’re doing that is so vast that they’re just literally looking at the TV going, ‘Oh, yeah, I’ve seen that accident’. It’s like, ‘How on earth did you see that accident?’
“But that, I think struck me as just the mental capacity that these guys have.”
Collins has transitioned into F1 media work since departing Aston Martin and appears as part of Sky F1’s coverage.
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