Esteban Ocon and Haas confirm their divorce at the end of the campaign
With two communications, first the French driver Esteban Ocon on their networks and, shortly after, the Haas F1 Team, both parties have officially confirmed what has been rumored for weeks in the F-1 paddock: at the end of the season their time together will end. It is the second time in his career that the French driver has been left off the starting grid. He was previously replaced at Racing Point at the end of 2018 and spent the following year as a reserve driver for Mercedes before joining Alpine in 2020 as a factory driver.
Esteban Ocon assures that this “absolutely” represents the end of his career in Formula 1. Last week in Baku, Ocon defined himself as a “free agent” for 2027, and his most recent comments on Instagram, published this Wednesday, did not reveal clues about his next destination.
“I leave this project with my head held high and proud of my performance, even though circumstances were not always easy due to various reasons and factors beyond my control. I remain motivated. I remain hungry for success. This is by no means the end of my career in Formula 1.”
Just when he declared himself a “free agent”, his best result of the season has arrived, an eighth place in the Azerbaijan GP, only his third top-10 of a campaign below his aspirations in which his teammate Ollie Bearman scores double the points in the classification.
The French driver, who debuted in F1 in 2016 and achieved his only victory in F1 with Alpine in 2021, complained that Haas was not making any moves to renew him and while he was testing other drivers with a view to the short-term future, such as the candidate for the F2 title Rafael Cámara, who is part of the Ferrari young driver program – Haas’ engine supplier -, the still current Formula 2 champion Leonardo Fornaroli and his current reserve driver Ryo Hirakawa, who also has the support of Haas partner Toyota, and has participated in two free practice sessions with the team this season.
Ayao Komatsu, Haas team director, thanked Ocon for his “professionalism and commitment” in a statement, while the team indicated that it has not yet planned to announce his replacement.
“This year we faced the challenge of an important regulatory change together, in which Esteban’s driving experience and contributions were essential as we worked intensively on the development of the VF-26 throughout the season. There are still many races ahead, and our goal remains to work together to make the most of every opportunity until the last race of the year.”
There are barely any free seats
With the more or less recent renewals of Verstappen, Sainz, Albon, Alonso and Stroll, plus the drivers who have a current contract, there are few options for Ocon in F1. Only Haas, from where he has just been fired, and Racing Bulls do not have confirmed lineups.
