In a sudden and unexpected development at the Mexico City Grand Prix, Haas has announced that Esteban Ocon has been withdrawn for the remainder of the race weekend.
He is being replaced in the VF-26 by Haas reserve driver Ryō Hirakawa starting from FP3 onwards, handing the 32-year-old Japanese driver his official Formula 1 race debut. Haas has not provided a specific reason for Ocon’s abrupt mid-weekend sidelining, stating that no further comments will be made at this time
The team statement reads: “Hirakawa (32), a two-time winner of the FIA World Endurance Championship (2022, 2023) and 24 Hours of Le Mans Winner (2022) with Toyota GAZOO Racing, participated in FP1 at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez on Friday 30 October – his third free practice outing of the season driving the VF-26, finishing 15th overall.
The Japanese driver will partner teammate Ollie Bearman through final practice and qualifying on Saturday and Sunday’s 71-lap grand prix – Hirakawa’s Formula 1 race debut.
No further statements will be made at this time.”
Ocon jumped the gun
Ahead of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Ocon announced he was a free agent for 2027, yet when the Haas F1 team boss was questioned, he claimed no decision had been made on the team’s driver lineup for next year. However, the following weekend, Haas did confirm they were parting company with Ocon and the usual pleasantries were posted.
Ocon will have clearly irritated the Haas team leadership by announcing his departure before the team were ready. Yet he has taken his place in the team as planned for the past three weekends in Malaysia, Singapore and at the US Grand Prix.
Yesterday, Ryō Hirakawa was slated to drive for Haas in FP1 in Mexico. He finished the session in P15, but he was deputising for Oliver Bearman. Esteban Ocon completed both practice sessions and his withdrawal from the car is a complete mystery at present.
Clearly there is some kind of issue between the team and Eseteban otherwise the team would let it be known if Ocon was not well. This happened to Carlos Sainz when at Ferrari, he was pulled on Saturday morning following the diagnosis he required an appendectomy. Olie Bearman stepped in and immediately made a case for him to be given an F1 seat.
Esteban causing friction
Throughout his Formula 1 career, Esteban Ocon has occasionally found himself at the centre of intra-team tensions and dramatic driver rivalries. During his time at Force India/Racing Point (2017-18) was when we saw Ocon’s most intense teammate rivalry, along side Sergio Pérez.
The two drivers frequently raced each other extremely closely, which boiled over into several high-profile collisions. Tensions peaked during the 2017 season with dramatic crashes in races like Baku and Spa, where they nearly ran each other into walls at high speed. The team had to implement strict rules of engagement and team orders to keep them apart, as their on-track battles were costing the constructor valuable championship points.
When Ocon moved to Alpine, he was alongside double world champion Fernando Alonso for two seasons. The Spaniard got sick of his risky moves and aggression and began referring to him sarcastic over ten radio as “our friend.”
The Gasly incident
When Fernando left for Aston Martin, Esteban was joined by child hood friend, Pierre Gasly. It became apparent that their time together in karting was a rivalry that was strained – and this transferred into Alpine. For much of the time their relationship was professional although a number of on track incidents did occur.
The one that did for Ocon was at the 2024 Monaco Grand Prix, where on the first lap he found himself behind Gaslt on track. As the red flag was shown for a first lap crash, Esteban appeared to try and overtake his team mate into the tunnel, but ran over his rear wheel instead.
Ocon was out of the race and seen leaving the paddock – which is highly unusual – before the race was restarted. On French TV live, the Alpine team boss, Bruno Famin raged at his driver for a completely uncalled for move, stating the team would “draw the consequences” – an implied threat to Ocon.
Ocon apologised on Social Media, but announced before the next Grand Prix weekend he would be leaving Alpine at the end of the season. His tenure at Haas F1 has looked unsteady, with him finishing three points behind his team mate Bearman, in his rookie year in 2025.
Bearman dominates Ocon
One theory circling the paddock is that Haas F1 have dropped Ocon due to a dispute over tyres. There was a heated radio discussion during FP2, where Ocon was enraged with his engineer. He refused to remove his helmet as he left the car and the Haas F1 garage, walking through the paddock fully suited up.
This year the young British driver has dominated his more experienced team mate outscoring Ocon by 23-7. Ocon’s future as an F1 driver hangs by a threat and whether he will complete the season with Haas F1 now looks highly unlikely.
The year he left Haas F1, he was dropped for the entire weekend at the finale in Abu Dhabi and replaced by rookie and reserve team driver Jack Doohan.
It’s strange for a team to take such drastic action, but it may mean they can debut their new driver for 2027, Ferrari academy driver Rafael Camera next time out in Brazil. Although Interlagos is a tough place to debut an F1 rookie.
FIA recognises Haas F1 driver change
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A.J. Hunt is Senior Editor at TJ13, where Andrew oversees editorial standards and contributes to the site’s Formula 1 coverage. A career journalist with experience in both print and digital sports media, Andrew trained in investigative journalism and has written for a range of European sports outlets.
At TJ13, Andrew plays a central role in shaping the site’s output, working across breaking news, analysis, and long-form features. Andrew’s responsibilities include fact-checking, refining editorial structure, and ensuring consistency in reporting across a fast-moving news cycle.
Andrew’s work focuses particularly on the intersection of Formula 1 politics, regulation, and team strategy. Andrew closely follows developments involving the FIA, team leadership, and driver market dynamics, helping to provide context behind the sport’s biggest stories.
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