F1 star told he 'has no future' as 2027 seat comes under threat

Hamilton, Sainz and Ocon stood side by side during national anthem at 2025 Brazilian GP — Photo: © IMAGO

F1 News & Gossip

F1 star told he 'has no future' as 2027 seat comes under threat

Could this be it for one F1 star?

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Thursday 30 July 2026 14:00

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Former F1 boss Guenther Steiner has hinted that one F1 star will not be on the grid in 2027 amid talks of a fight for his seat.

Steiner was the team principal of Haas F1 between 2016 and 2024, and has now moved on to punditry and MotoGP, where he is the new Tech3 KTM CEO.

The Drive to Survive star is also a regular guest on the Red Flags podcast, where he recently appeared to give his opinion on his former team's driver lineup.

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Haas signed both Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman for the 2025 season, in a partnership which looked exciting on paper.

The team tied them both down to deals that run until the end of 2026, so that they would both be in place for the regulation changes which swept into the sport at the beginning of this year.

But new Haas F1 boss Ayao Komatsu said after their first year together that 'nobody was satisfied' with Ocon's performances, after the experienced French driver finished behind rookie Bearman in the drivers' championship.

Ocon has been in F1 on and off since 2016, and was in the past tipped with a big move to Mercedes.

But in 2026, his problems up against Bearman have continued, only scoring three points so far, compared with Bearman's 18 in the same car.

Now, Steiner has said he doesn't believe Ocon has a future with Haas, and that he will need to find a new team before the end of this year, or risk being off the grid.

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Will Ocon still be in F1 in 2027?

2025 F2 champion Leonardo Fornaroli, Ferrari junior driver Rafael Camara and former F1 star Yuki Tsunoda have all been linked with a move to Haas to replace Ocon.

So could his long career in F1 be set to come to an end at the end of this year? Former Haas boss Steiner certainly thinks so.

"I think Ollie [Bearman] is doing a very good job and Esteban is just like, that's the maximum he can do," said Steiner on the Red Flags podcast.

"I mean the difference, it's so big. I think it's the biggest difference between team-mates now in the championship. But if you take also the time gap between the two normally, it's huge always you know.

"So I don't think he has got a future there. I think that's his last year there."

Turning his attention to the potential candidates to replace Ocon, Steiner made his pick clear, saying: "I think Yuki will be difficult because his connection with Honda, you know, he's clearly a Honda guy. I think him jumping ship to Toyota, difficult.

"I would say Camara," Steiner concluded, before confirming he felt that way due to the Brazilian F2 driver's status as a Ferrari junior.

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Haas Esteban Ocon Ollie Bearman Guenther Steiner