Esteban Ocon once again hit the Formula One headlines when his team, Haas F1, made the shock announcement they had benched their French driver for the remainder of the Mexico City Grand Prix. The announcement came on Saturday morning with Ocon having taken his place for both free practice sessions on Friday.
Hirakawa Steps In as Replacement
His replacement is the team’s reserve driver, who whilst an F1 rookie is no mug. Ryō Hirakawa at 31 years of age is no spring chicken for F1 teams, and his racing career record is exceptional. He has won in a number of single-seater categories, but is better known for being a Toyota driver in the WEC series, which he has won twice.
Further, in 2022 he won the Le Mans 24 Hour race in the top-class hypercar category. Hirakawa has previously been associated with both McLaren and Alpine before his current role as test driver for Haas F1. He made his F1 debut weekend appearance at the 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, driving the McLaren MCL38 in FP1 replacing Oscar Piastri.
Hirakawa acquitted himself well in FP3, given the short notice he had to prepare. He finished the session just over half a second adrift of his experienced teammate Oliver Bearman. In qualifying, the Japanese driver was knocked out in Q1,although he clocked a time ahead of Lance Stroll and very close to that of Fernando Alonso—just ahead of him.
Clearly, Hirakawa is not a seasoned Formula One regular yet, and Haas F1 have a battle on their hands to retain P7 in the constructors’ championship. For a team that does not have the income to reach the cost cap, every place in the prize money list is vital to their future operations the following season.
The Fallout and Ocon’s Statement
To bench a driver in the manner Haas did with Ocon, together with making it plain he was in no way ill, is clearly the end of the road between the French driver and the US-owned team. There will be the usual legal work to be completed by the lawyers over the coming weeks, and it could be Haas F1 are forced to pay significant compensation to Ocon.
What is certain is that Ocon is OUT of the Haas F1 team, and following rumours of a physical altercation in the Haas F1 garage between Ocon and team boss Ayao Komatsu, the French driver released the following statement:
“Following the recent decision from Haas F1 Team confirming that I will not be participating in this weekend’s Mexico City Grand Prix, I wish to formally address some media reports and speculation surrounding the situation.
“Last night, a difference in viewpoints led to a discussion with the parties involved. Whilst I acknowledge that this took place, I categorically reject any reports or allegations suggesting that any form of physical violence was used to resolve any differences of any nature.
“I strongly condemn violence in all its forms and firmly believe that disagreements should always be handled with professionalism, respect, and mutual understanding. I kindly ask that speculation be avoided while the matter is being addressed.
“Further updates will be communicated in due course.”
The question of physical violence having occurred appears to have come from French publication L’Équipe, who were scheduled to interview Ocon after FP2. The interview was cancelled at short notice after the dispute between Ocon and the team.
Looking Ahead to Brazil and Beyond
Ryō Hirakawa is set to compete next weekend in the WEC, in which he and his teammates Brendon Hartley and Sebastien Buemi are leading the championship by just ten points from the second Toyota Hypercar team. So when F1 rolls into Brazil, Haas F1 will require another solution to their driver lineup.
The team’s other reserve driver is Jack Doohan, who was unceremoniously dumped by Alpine after just six race weekends during the 2025 season. He was replaced by Franco Colapinto, who remains with the team as co-driver with Pierre Gasly.
Doohan will inevitably take the wheel for Haas F1 in Brazil and presumably for the remainder of the season, however that pans out with the race weekends in Qatar and Abu Dhabi currently in doubt.
Tensions Behind the Scenes
There were paddock reports earlier in the season that relationships were strained between Ocon and the Haas F1 team.This appears to have been confirmed by Sky F1’s pundit Karun Chandhok, who observed earlier: “I don’t think this is a one-off. I think this has been building up ever since the rumours started of him being replaced, and then he actually got replaced.”
Going into the weekend of the 2026 Canadian GP, paddock rumours swirled of conflict between Ocon and his team boss.Yet Ayao Komatsu was adamant in his response. “I honestly don’t know where the story came from, no idea,” said Komatsu. “No foundation whatsoever, absolute bull****.
“If somebody wants to write that kind of bull****, feel free, but is that journalism? I have no idea. It’s terrible. What are they trying to achieve? It’s crazy. No foundation whatsoever. It’s incredible. Part of it is that apparently I had some issue with Esteban in Miami—where’s that come from? I didn’t even have a single argument with Esteban in Miami.
“Esteban gets worried, his manager gets worried,” he explained. “Esteban knows that we haven’t had any argument in Miami, at least a specific thing. This morning we were just smiling and talking about what the f***’s that about. So I said I’m going to just completely clarify this to everyone, because it’s absolute utter s***. Total bull****. It’s just something we don’t need.”
Quite the tirade. Yet in hindsight, an F1 team does not boot one of its drivers for questioning the run plan they are given for a practice session. Clearly, there has been more going on behind the scenes. With Ocon looking for gainful employment elsewhere, it may be some time before we really know what exactly has been going on at Haas, who over the years have not enjoyed the most sanguine of working environments.
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I’m also positive that their relationship’s end was simply brought forward & confirmation that this sudden driver change isn’t about health or well-being already all but confirmed that a spat or argument had happened in the background before Ocon himself revealed that ”difference in viewpoints” was behind this change & clarifying that violence hadn’t been used was a good move, given the unfounded speculation.
No team would change a perfectly healthy & fit driver during an event without a strong reason, so reading between the lines, everything was clear from the get-go, & I wouldn’t be surprised at all, if instead of Doohan, Haas would simply bring forward Camara’s full-time debut, starting from the Sao Paulo GP.