Mystery at Haas as Esteban Ocon dropped from Mexico driver line-up
Ocon is out of the Mexico City GP
Esteban Ocon will take no further part in the Mexico City Grand Prix, with Haas making the unexpected announcement on Saturday morning.
Toyota’s Ryo Hirakawa will step in for Ocon in Mexico.
Esteban Ocon dropped in Mexico
Just a few hours before final practice for the Mexico City Grand Prix, Haas released a shock statement announcing that Ocon would take no further part in the weekend.
The Frenchman is already confirmed to be leaving the team at the end of the campaign, with F2 points leader Rafael Camara set to fill his seat in 2027.
The brief statement read: TGR Haas F1 Team reserve driver Ryo Hirakawa will replace Esteban Ocon for the remainder of the weekend’s Mexico City Grand Prix.”
It continued: “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 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.”
Pressed by PlanetF1.com as to the reasoning behind this decision, a Haas spokesperson confirmed only that the move was not due to illness.
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The move comes after a moment of heightened tension between Ocon and race engineer Laura Mueller in second practice on Friday.
In an exchange via team radio, Ocon complained that his car had been fitted with medium tyres rather than soft, with Mueller explaining: “We have to do the medium.”
This was due to the condition of Bearman’s tyres, which led to a switch in the run plan.
In response, Ocon said: “No, no, I wanted the soft, don’t do that to me. Come on.”
It is believed that his relationship with Mueller had grown fractious in recent weeks.
Paddock speculation is that the decision could see Ocon depart his Haas seat entirely, despite there being four or five rounds remaining on the calendar after Mexico, depending on developments in the Middle East.
With no seat likely for 2027 – Racing Bulls and Cadillac holding the only remaining vacancies – this could provide an unfortunate footnote on the career of the one-time grand prix winner.
Haas currently has a pair of reserve drivers in Hirakawa and former Alpine driver Jack Doohan. Both were tested alongside Camara in what was essentially a shootout to decide which driver would have the second seat next year.
But with only Hirakawa on the ground in Mexico, Doohan was not a factor in the decision as to which driver would step up. Had Doohan been in the country, he would have been the likely candidate to step in following an extremely positive test in Jerez.
Should Ocon remain out of action into the Brazil weekend, Hirakawa is unlikely to be able to continue as he is due to be competing in WEC, a championship in which he currently leads the standings.
This could leave the door open to Doohan being drafted in, with Camara another option, given he currently sits on 55 Super Licence points – 15 clear of the minimum requirement – and would have no F2 duties that weekend.
