Haas to make F1 driver lineup change at Hungarian Grand Prix

Ocon and Bearman in Haas F1 kit in front of red, white and green Hungarian flag-themed background — Photo: © IMAGO

Hungarian Grand Prix

Haas to make F1 driver lineup change at Hungarian Grand Prix

Haas will be carrying out a driver change at the Hungaroring this weekend

Kerry Violet F1 News Editor

F1 editor and journalist covering motorsport since 2024.

Tuesday 21 July 2026 19:45

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Haas F1 team have announced that they will be carrying out a driver swap at this weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix involving Ollie Bearman.

Since signing with the American outfit for the 2025 campaign, the British racer has done well to stand his own against his much more experienced team-mate Esteban Ocon.

Last year, Bearman finished P13 in the drivers' championship, three points ahead of Ocon and the second-highest rookie of the year (Isack Hadjar accrued 10 points more than Bearman did in his first campaign with Racing Bulls, earning him the Red Bull promotion).

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In Bearman's sophomore campaign with Haas, he has so far managed to hold onto P13 and currently has 18 points to his name, 15 more than Ocon does after 10 rounds.

As rumours swirl over there being as many as three different drivers auditioning for Ocon's seat next season, the Frenchman can at least breathe a sigh of relief that it is Bearman who will be giving up an hour of practice at the Hungaroring this weekend, not him.

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Hirakawa to drive Bearman's Haas at Hungarian GP

A team statement ahead of the final race weekend before the annual summer shutdown confirmed that their reserve driver Ryo Hirakawa will be stepping into Bearman's car for FP1, the first practice session at this year's Hungarian GP.

A Haas Belgian GP preview read: "TGR Haas F1 Team Reserve Driver Ryo Hirakawa will participate in his second FP1 session of the season, following his first outing in Austria last month, this time driving Ollie Bearman’s VF-26."

Speaking about the lineup change, Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu said: "Ryo will also replace Ollie for FP1, and we're very much looking forward to seeing how he can build on from his first outing in Spielberg."

Bearman revealed he was looking forward to the driver swap as it meant he could take in the practice session from a different perspective, with the 21-year-old then going on to state that Hirakawa's feedback would be 'integral'.

Hirakawa then personally added: "Firstly, I’d like to thank TOYOTA GAZOO Racing and TGR Haas F1 Team for the opportunity to get back behind the wheel during FP1 in Hungary.

"It will be my second time in the VF-26 after a difficult FP1 session in Austria, where aero tests and a red flag prevented me from completing some push laps. Next week I’ll have the chance to do some push laps, which is very exciting. The track is really challenging, it’s quite small, narrow and has a lot of low- and medium-speed corners.

"It’ll be very nice to push the limits and to provide good feedback to the team, which will help them prepare a strong car setup for FP2 and the remainder of the weekend."

At last month's race at the Red Bull Ring, Hirakawa completed the first of the team's mandated 'rookie' driver swaps.

He finished P19 in FP1 but was involved in an unfortunate accident where he hit one of his pit crew, something that even Lewis Hamilton managed to do last time out in Spa, although thankfully the crew members in question were not injured on both occasions.

Written by

Kerry Violet - F1 News Editor

Having graduated from the University of Sheffield with a 2:1 in Journalism in 2022, Kerry continued her pursuit of finding a full-time position in motorsport through work with the F1 Arcade in London, where she got to meet true fans of the sport and make a live grand prix watch party memorable for them. It was here that she confirmed her dream of combining her background in journalism and love of motorsport, going on to volunteer with the female-led platform Empoword Journalism. Having completed stints as a screen editor and sports editor, Kerry landed her first F1-specific editorial role with GPFans and has thoroughly enjoyed continuing to work closely with the sport ever since. The access GPFans offers Kerry has allowed her to interview big names such as Naomi Schiff and David Coulthard and given her experiences she could only have dreamt of as a young F1 fan.

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F1 Haas Ollie Bearman Ryo Hirakawa