Esteban Ocon faces new problem in plan to return to F1

Esteban Ocon is out of F1...probably for good.

The Frenchman was already confirmed to be leaving the Haas team at the end of the 2026 season, but then on Saturday he was replaced by Ryo Hirakawa for the remainder of Mexican Grand Prix weekend.

Ocon's time at Haas has not gone as well as he might have hoped in his two years with the team, having been outperformed by young Brit Ollie Bearman in his rookie season last term and also this year.

In 2026, of Haas' 30 points, Ocon only has seven so it was no surprise when no sooner had Ocon's departure been confirmed than F2 series leader Rafael Camara was signed to make his F1 debut next term.

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Esteban Ocon's options

This might have been seen as the natural end of Ocon's career - he made his debut in 2016 and aside from 2019 has been on the grid ever since.

Admittedly he is only 30 years old, still quite young in F1 terms, but there hasn't been a lot of interest from rival teams for a man who has one career win at the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix.

Ocon still wants to drive in F1, and has admitted he has been in contact with teams. For now at the available spots at Racing Bulls and possibly Cadillac look unlikely with those teams having their attention elsewhere.

That's in theory fine. Take a year out (like he did in 2019) and come back for 2028, but while that was conceivable about 48 hours ago, it now looks a long shot.

Messy ends at teams

The reason for that sudden escalation is the news that Ocon did not exit the Haas garage on good terms in Mexico City. The team couldn't wait to remove his garage stickers to replace them with Hirakawa's.

While there has been no confirmation, with this in mind it's not a stretch to say we won't see Ocon for the rest of the season.

But this isn't the first time he has left a team before his exit date. Only two years ago he was dropped from Alpine ahead of the last race of the season. Even if he was leaving, this is not a normal thing to happen.

Alpine boss Flavio Briatore was less than complimentary about Ocon when talking about his final year at the team to Drive to Survive.

"For months, Esteban was complaining all the time about the car was different this and that. I don't like that. Don't be a spoilt brat," he said.

Being axed once from a team can be unfortunate, twice is a major problem.

New generation or Ocon?

It's not just teams either, look at the drivers. Ocon's relationship with compatriot Pierre Gasly is a bitter one, he had a very bitter rivalry with Sergio Perez at Force India after they kept crashing into each other and Fernando Alonso grew fatigued of him during their two years together at Alpine.

Just last week, Ocon revealed that hardly any of the grid had been in contact with him over losing his seat, with the exception of Lance Stroll, and a brief encounter with Lewis Hamilton at the United States Grand Prix.

Ocon isn't a bad driver, and he has been deserving of an F1 seat during his time in the sport.

But a new generation is emerging and F1 teams have a choice. Take a punt on a young kid with potential, or a quick and experienced driver but one who has burnt bridges at the last two teams he has been with and seems to have a bigger enemy count than an allies one.

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Written by

Dan Ripley - Global Editor

I've been a massive F1 fan since the mid 1990s and continue to study the history of the sport long before that. As an experienced motor sport reporter covering F1, MotoGP and the LeMans 24 Hour race, being part of GPFans has allowed me to work with a diverse team with all sorts of different backgrounds in watching the sport and given me a greater appreciation of F1.

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