Esteban Ocon has been permanently dropped by Haas for the remainder of the Formula 1 season and will be replaced by Rafa Camara for this weekend’s Brazilian Grand Prix.
Ocon was unexpectedly benched midway through last weekend’s Mexican event after a confrontation with team boss Ayao Komatsu on Friday after practice.
It was a sudden escalation in an increasingly tense relationship that was going to end this year anyway after Haas opted to replace Ocon with F2 title contender and Ferrari junior Camara in 2027.
This will now happen early, although Haas’ statement announcing the complete break with Ocon only confirmed Camara for Brazil at the moment. Ryo Hirakawa initially replaced Ocon in Mexico.
“We have now informed Esteban Ocon that he will not return to a racing seat with TGR Haas F1 Team this season,” Komatsu said.
“Such decisions are never taken lightly, as was the case in Mexico City, but then as now, we believe it is in the best interest of the team to move forward.
“The conversations that ultimately took place between the team and Esteban remain an internal matter, and we will continue to respect the privacy of situations behind closed doors.”
What happened in Mexico
There was some frustration from Ocon on the radio during Mexico FP2, which persisted after the session.
This doesn’t appear to be a major problem in isolation: Ocon complained several times about being told he would run his longest high-fuel run on mediums rather than softs, because of what the team had already observed on Ollie Bearman’s tires.
But this came against the backdrop of Ocon’s impending departure and the internal conflicts that accompanied it, with Ocon feeling increasingly frustrated by Haas’ problems this year and firmly believing that he was not replaced for next season for legitimate performance reasons.
Instead of leaving aside the run-of-the-mill radio grumbling, an attempt to discuss the issue further Friday night led to a confrontation.
Ocon denies that this led to physical violence, as some reports, including that of the French newspaper L’Equipe, suggest. No one at Haas will comment on exactly what happened, but it was serious enough to trigger immediate and drastic action, with Ocon immediately sacked.
The case ended Friday evening and Hirakawa was informed of the situation very early Saturday morning. After competing in Friday’s FP1 as part of his main Haas program, he told Japanese media that it was 6:30 a.m. when he received the call that he would be finishing the weekend.
Haas focused on the end of the Mexican weekend and helped Hirakawa make his surprise F1 debut in very difficult circumstances, which was rewarded with an unexpected point.
Hirakawa overtook both Williams drivers late after the restart, which was originally only for 13th place on the road, but ended up being for a potentially crucial 10th place in Haas’ constructors’ championship fight with Audi after penalties for three drivers in front.
After the weekend, the dialogue between Haas and Ocon turned to what will happen for the rest of the year.
Although Ocon would surely have wanted to try to fix what had happened, it was bad enough that Haas clearly felt a line had been irreversibly crossed – so he insisted on removing Ocon from the seat permanently.
Gn sports
