Toto Wolff drops Esteban Ocon and Vasseur ‘$1 million’ bombshell

Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff has revealed how he and Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur played integral roles in Esteban Ocon’s Formula 1 career, including personal investments in the Frenchman.

Wolff’s comments come after Haas confirmed Ocon’s axe ahead of the Brazilian Grand Prix, after he was stood down during the Mexico City race weekend.

Fred Vasseur part-funded Esteban Ocon Manor drive

Neither Haas nor Ocon have publicly explained the reasoning behind that shock split, with Ocon only firmly denying rumours of a physical altercation having taken place.

The 30-year-old remains under Mercedes management, as Wolff addressed the situation in Sao Paulo.

In doing so, he revealed that Vasseur personally put in half of the money needed to secure Ocon’s first F1 seat with Manor in 2016.

Prior to debuting in Formula 1, Ocon had won the GP3 title with Vasseur’s ART Grand Prix team, and raced with its DTM squad.

“So Mercedes, we picked up the management of Esteban due to Gwen [Lagrue] actually,” Wolff began.

Lagrue, the team’s former driver academy chief who also oversaw the journeys of George Russell and Kimi Antonelli into Formula 1, recently agreed a switch to Red Bull from 2027.

“That’s how we got to know Gwen when Gravity [Sport Management] defaulted,” Wolff continued.

“And then agreed to work with Fred in GP3. We won the championship together. Then there wasn’t really an opportunity in Formula 1. Then the DTM door, we did that together.

“Then I don’t know if that is actually known, but when suddenly there appeared to be a free seat in Manor from Spa onwards, it needed $2 million, and we were saying we can provide $1 million for that seat, but we were missing $1 million.

“Fred put the money in personally to give Esteban the opportunity.

“And over all those years, I think we were all very supporting and very strong, in trying to make sure that Esteban would have the best possible opportunity.

“Obviously, then went through a couple of team changes, and I think at the end, it came to the point where Ayao [Komatsu, Haas team principal] needed to represent the team and protect the team from a certain rhetoric.

“And on the other side, Esteban felt that personally he wasn’t wrong in the things he said.

“You’ve got to respect that in the end the team calls the shots. The team principal needs to decide when it’s enough, and that is what Ayao did.”

Wolff was speaking alongside Vasseur in the team representatives press conference at the Brazilian GP.

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Vasseur said of Ocon, his compatriot: “Yeah, I worked with Esteban in GP3, in DTM. I don’t know if it was 10 or 15 years ago. With Toto also at this stage.

“And yeah, he did very well, I think, in the junior series, in DTM, in F1.

“Now to comment what’s happened in another team, it’s difficult. I have enough to do with my guys, and I don’t know what’s happened between Ayao, Haas, and the team and the driver. I don’t want to make any comment.

“For sure, it’s a shame for Esteban because I think he’s a pure competitor. He put a lot of energy in all over the season to be in F1, and for this we need to have a huge respect. For this now, I won’t make any comment on the situation.”

Ocon was replaced by Haas reserve Ryo Hirakawa in Mexico, before Rafael Camara stepped in for Brazil, debuting on home soil ahead of schedule.

It was already known that Ocon would not continue with Haas into F1 2027, following the signing of Camara.

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