Fresh reports have suggested that Esteban Ocon could lose his seat at the Haas F1 Team before the end of the 2026 Formula 1 season, casting a shadow over the French driver’s future. Having left Alpine F1 Team at the end of 2025, Ocon joined Haas in the hope of making a fresh start. However, the opening phase of the season has proven challenging, with the 29-year-old securing only one point thus far.
This contrasts sharply with his teammate Oliver Bearman, who has emerged as one of the standout midfield performers and has already collected 17 points. The growing performance gap has intensified speculation surrounding Ocon’s future within the American squad.
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Brazilian reports are raising questions over Ocon’s future
The latest rumours emerged after the Miami Grand Prix, where Ocon failed to score again. According to Brazilian journalist Julien Cerasoli, tensions within the team have worsened, particularly between Ocon and team principal Ayao Komatsu.
Speaking to UOL Esporte, Cerasoli said: “Ayao Komatsu doesn’t like Ocon. He clearly doesn’t like him and is not happy with his current performance.”
He added: “In fact, I’ve heard that he’s not sure if Ocon will be able to compete until the end of the season. So, to put it bluntly, Ocon’s current situation is not good at all.”
While Haas has not publicly commented on the claims, the reports have added fuel to the growing speculation in the paddock surrounding Ocon’s position.
Bearman comparison is increasing the pressure inside Haas
Ocon was already under scrutiny during the latter stages of his final season at Alpine, but the pressure has intensified since he joined Haas.
Bearman has outperformed his more experienced teammate consistently in both qualifying and race pace in 2026, strengthening his status within the team. Under Komatsu’s leadership, Haas has made visible progress, with the squad increasingly focused on maximising efficiency and achieving results in the tightly contested midfield battle.
Since taking charge of the team, Komatsu has repeatedly emphasised the importance of driver contribution, consistency, and technical feedback. With Bearman regularly competing for points, Ocon’s struggles have become more apparent.
The modern Formula 1 environment has also demonstrated that mid-season driver changes are becoming increasingly commonplace. In 2025, for example, Liam Lawson lost his Red Bull Racing seat after only two races, after which Yuki Tsunoda was promoted from Racing Bulls. Similarly, Jack Doohan lost his Alpine drive after six races, being replaced by Franco Colapinto.
These precedents make the latest Haas rumours appear more plausible than they once would have.
Jack Doohan and Ryo Hirakawa have been linked as possible replacements
Several potential replacements are already being discussed in case Haas decides to make a change during the season.
Doohan remains closely connected to the team after joining Haas as a reserve and test driver following his departure from Alpine. The Australian is already familiar with the team’s operations and would be the most straightforward short-term solution.
Another name attracting attention is Ryo Hirakawa. The Japanese driver has strengthened his relationship with Haas through multiple FP1 appearances, and he maintains strong links with Toyota, who are Haas’ technical partners.
Ferrari-backed junior talent could also become part of the conversation later in the year. Current Formula 2 drivers Rafael Câmara and Dino Beganovic have both made strong starts to the 2026 season and are considered long-term prospects within the Ferrari system.
Haas now faces a significant decision
Despite the growing speculation, the 2026 season is still in its early stages, and Haas has time to assess its driver situation before making any major decisions.
However, Formula 1 has become increasingly ruthless when teams feel that drivers are not performing to the required standard. If Ocon cannot improve his performance quickly, the scrutiny surrounding his future is likely to intensify over the coming race weekends.
For now, Haas must decide whether to continue backing an experienced Grand Prix winner or look towards younger alternatives, as the team pushes to establish itself as a consistent midfield contender.
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A fallout claim couldn’t be further away from reality, especially since it isn’t even from AMuS, i.e., the most reliable publication for F1-reporting, so Julien Cerasoli’s claim has next to zero relevance, especially any idea of an in-season change.
Besides, neither Doohan nor Hirakawa would even be an improvement from him, & in reality, only the Ferrari-affiliated Camara & Beganovic could be comparatively superior options to him, but the fact is that no definitively superior options are available; hence, the likelihood of Ocon getting dropped even after the season is low, & most importantly, he hasn’t even been as bad as some results might suggest since he could’ve finished as highly as fifth in the Chinese GP without the SC or had the deployment timing been more ideal, & likewise, he could’ve possibly finished at least two positions higher in the Japanese GP without the same out-of-control factor, while in Miami, they were roughly matched, both time gap & position-wise, except for sprint qualifying, & all in all, qualifying consistency is the only area to improve, if anything, nor has he given a strong justification to lose his drive at any point, especially since late last season, meaning that he’d need to totally flop to lose his drive, especially given the absence of definitively superior options.
Haas wouldn’t benefit at all by switching him to an even worse option, although Hirakawa would be fitting for short-term stop-gap purposes, as would Miyata via their Toyota affiliation, but purely sporting-wise, only the Camara-Beganovic duo could realistically be comparatively superior to Ocon, & since the former has been performing better in F2, I could only really see him replacing Ocon as a full-time driver, if anyone.
All in all, no teammate pairing has been excessively one-sided this season so far, except for Aston Martin to some extent, & total points don’t reflect the full picture, given the out-of-control factors, not to mention Ocon reached Q3 in Suzuka, while Bearman was eliminated in Q1.
However, one thing is certain & it’s that should Ocon lose his drive, he’d definitely end up without a drive in F1 for next season because no other team would replace either of their current drivers in favor of him since he wouldn’t be a superior option to any other current full-time driver, except Lance, whose situation is well-known.