Esteban Ocon declared himself a “free agent” as Haas is yet to decide its driver line-up for the 2027 Formula 1 season, but did not rule out potentially staying at the team.
Although the Frenchman has been enjoying much improved performances of late, which have gone largely unrewarded as Haas’ performance has slipped away from its early-season points-scoring form, Ocon’s seat has been under threat for some time.
Haas has been using its testing of previous cars (TPC) programme to identify a potential partner for Ollie Bearman next season, with Ferrari junior Rafael Camara, reigning F2 champion Leonardo Fornaroli, and current reserve Ryo Hirakawa in the frame.
Ocon confirmed that he was looking for other options for 2027, while Haas continues to assess its driver pairing for next year. Recent rumours have surfaced suggesting that the team is leaning towards Camara – currently the reigning F3 champion and second in this year’s F2 standings – for next year, although team boss Ayao Komatsu stated during the Spanish GP that he had “maybe five” drivers in contention.
“Yes, at the moment I am definitely a free agent for next year,” Ocon stated.
“There are things in discussion that are out of my control and there are certain topics that are out of my control. So I will keep pushing until the end of the year and see how it goes.”
Asked if staying at Haas was an option, Ocon remained tight-lipped and responded: “let’s see”.
Esteban Ocon, Haas
Photo by: James Sutton / LAT Images via Getty Images
Ocon added that he was pleased with his performances of late, having suffered this season with an inconsistent car in the early stages of the season.
It is unclear if this is an aerodynamic sensitivity issue or a parts quality control problem; Komatsu has suggested both could be causes, and that the team is still investigating the issue at hand.
“We know it’s been an ongoing issue,” he said. “It’s reassuring that I’m doing a good job. Obviously, my performance hasn’t been an issue this year.
“I’ve performed every time I had the car. I’ve been the last one to score in Monaco. I was almost scoring in Madrid. There’s been a lot of times where I’ve performed when the car was underperforming. It’s been clear.
“Everybody in the team has been following that very closely, trying to fix the problem. We haven’t been hiding from it. But it’s been quite disappointing at times, obviously, to have these kind of problems.”
Bearman was asked if he felt ready to step up as the team leader should Ocon depart, and the Briton stated that he’d learned a lot from his team-mate across the almost two years spent together as team-mates.
Esteban Ocon, Haas F1 Team, Oliver Bearman, Haas F1 Team
Photo by: Simon Galloway / LAT Images via Getty Images
He pointed to Ocon’s feedback in the engineering room as something that he’d taken inspiration from, along with his own improving performances on-track.
“I’ve been here for, well, this is my second year driving as a full-time driver, but also I’ve been one year as a reserve for Haas, also did a few races and FP1s the year before that, even in 2023, I did my first FP1. So I have a really good level of experience with the team,” Bearman said.
“I feel like I’ve improved a lot in terms of my on-track performance, but also how I describe what I’m feeling in the car and things like that. And that’s something I certainly learned a lot from someone who’s very experienced like Esteban. So on that side, it’s been really good learning for me.
“Even if I compare my feedback to 12 months ago, I’m not sure I would have the confidence to just rely on my own feedback. But I feel like I’ve made a good step in that regard, and it’s just a normal learning process, really.”
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