Haas drops Esteban Ocon for Mexico Grand Prix: what happened and why
Web StoryWatch this story in 15 seconds →Key takeaways
- Haas pulled Esteban Ocon from the Mexico City Grand Prix on Saturday and replaced him with reserve driver Ryo Hirakawa.
- Ocon denied reports of a fight with team boss Ayao Komatsu after a row about tyre choice in Friday practice.
- Haas gave no reason for the switch and has not said if Ocon will race in Brazil next weekend.
Haas shocked Formula 1 on Saturday by dropping Esteban Ocon for the Mexico City Grand Prix. Reserve driver Ryo Hirakawa took his seat. The team gave no reason for the change.
What happened
Haas announced the move on Saturday morning in Mexico City Ocon would take no further part in the weekend Hirakawa would drive the car instead.
The team said only that Ocon was not ill.
Hirakawa is 32 and from Japan He is the team's reserve driver He had already driven Ocon's car in first practice on Friday.
Haas used that session to fill part of its rookie running quota Ocon then returned to the car for second practice.
The trouble started in that second session Haas sent Ocon out on medium tyres instead of soft ones Ocon did not agree with the plan.
He told his race engineer over team radio not to do this to him.
A few hours later, Ocon was out of the car for good Sky Sports reported that his bond with the team had been weak in recent races Team boss Ayao Komatsu would not explain the call.
He told Sky Sports F1 that he could not say much He stressed that Ocon was not ill The focus, he said, was on getting Hirakawa ready for qualifying.
Hirakawa qualified 19th for the race. At 32, he is the oldest F1 debutant since Andre Lotterer drove for Caterham in 2014. He will race the VF-26 at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez on Sunday.
The row Ocon denies
Some media reports claimed a physical fight between Ocon and Komatsu. Ocon rejected the claims on Saturday. He released a short statement to address the speculation.
Ocon said a difference of views led to a talk with the people involved on Friday night He admitted that part was true But he rejected any claim that physical violence was used.
He said he condemns violence in all its forms He asked people to stop guessing while the matter is handled.
Komatsu stayed silent on the details too. He would not say what happened behind closed doors. He only said the team is looking ahead, not back.
Jenson Button, the 2009 world champion and now a Sky Sports pundit, said the row was a huge gamble. A tyre argument in practice cost Ocon the whole weekend. Button added that Ocon may have thrown away the rest of his Formula 1 career.
Why it matters
Ocon was already set to leave Haas at the end of this season. The team has signed Brazilian rookie Rafael Camara for 2027. Camara is a Ferrari junior driver. But teams almost never drop a driver in the middle of a race weekend.
The timing is cruel for Ocon He is a Grand Prix winner He won the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix with Alpine.
This season he has scored only seven points Team-mate Oliver Bearman has scored 16 more The Haas seat was his last sure place on the grid.
Late stand-ins are rare, but the sport has seen them before Formula 1 pointed to Nyck de Vries this weekend He scored points for Williams at Monza in 2022 after a sudden call-up.
It also named Oliver Bearman He stood in for Carlos Sainz at Ferrari in 2024 and now races full-time for Haas.
The drama landed in a wild Mexico weekend Lewis Hamilton took his first pole position for Ferrari on Saturday Sky Sports reported that Kimi Antonelli could seal the drivers' title in Sunday's race.
One weekend earlier, Leclerc set the pace in Austin practice as the title fight rolled on.
What happens next
No one knows if Ocon will race for Haas at the Brazilian Grand Prix next weekend. The team has given no sign of its plans. Ocon's side has said nothing either.
Autosport reports that Ocon is likely to join Aston Martin as a reserve driver in 2027. That would keep him close to the sport. A full race seat for 2027 now looks far away.
For now, Hirakawa gets the weekend of his life. The whole paddock will watch how the 32-year-old handles his sudden chance.
One tyre row in practice may have paused a Formula 1 career. Haas moves on to Brazil. Ocon waits to learn what comes next.
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