Our verdict on Ocon's Haas F1 exit

Esteban Ocon's exit from Haas at the end of the 2026 Formula 1 season is now official, with F2 points leader Rafael Camara expected to replace him.

But was Ocon given a fair chance? Our team gives their verdict...

He wasn't fast enough to justify another deal

Ben Anderson

I wouldn't rank Ocon as the worst of the current 22 F1 drivers, and therefore completely deserving of dropping off the grid, but he's probably outside the top 15 and that's enough to leave you vulnerable when there's serious pressure from underneath.

I think at the crux of this is that Haas still operates below the cost cap and remains underfunded overall, so the money being spent on Ocon needs to be justified by a higher overall level of performance than he's shown over the past two seasons.

There have been flashes of what he's capable of, and some short spurts of sustained good form, but not enough to mark him out as the clear team leader and reference - which is what he's paid to be.

In short, Ollie Bearman has been too fast, Haas needs to save cash, and Ocon hasn't been good enough, consistently enough, to justify both the money he's being paid and the stress it seems he's put the team under behind the scenes.

F1 teams will accept very demanding personalities, but only if you do the job on track to back up your demands.

When you add all that to a Ferrari junior, in Rafa Camara - who brings Ferrari support as well as financial backing from Brazil - simply blowing Haas away with his sheer pace in TPC testing, it's easy to see why, even though Ocon might still have more to offer than several others still occupying F1 seats, he's unfortunately reached the end of the road, for now.

Good enough to stay for longer

Scott Mitchell-Malm

That Ocon even got to F1 in the first place is a huge overachievement considering he has a strong claim to be the most (only?) normal person on the grid.

He is also better than he gets credit for - extremely fast at his best and a very formidable racer. Ocon's aggressive, sure. And capable of being self-defeating (on track and off it). But he is one of those drivers who, if given a chance at a result in a midfield car, can be completely depended on to see it through.

The grid is stronger if Ocon remains on it. He doesn't always put his best foot forward, though, and people at Alpine and now at Haas say he fails to recognise that agency. This is something that has held him back and caused unnecessary friction. 

Ocon almost certainly just sees himself as being straightforward, and probably exactly what Haas told him it needed him to be at the start. And maybe there's some truth to that. Maybe the environment that would get the very best out of him has simply eluded him. 

If he finds it, and/or achieves a slightly better balance between his own sides, then Ocon's F1 career could still be years from ending. He's certainly good enough to hold down a seat for longer.  

He's had enough chances

Matt Beer

This hasn't lived up to what Ocon's pre-F1 package of back-to-back European F3 and GP3 titles plus Mercedes patronage intimated would be possible. Neither has it been terrible

But given he's had nine and a bit F1 racing seasons, around 200 grands prix, Ocon's had a very healthy career already without providing compelling evidence that it would be a travesty if that career didn't stretch into a second decade.

And even getting his time on the F1 grid to that length hasn't been straightforward, given how he was squeezed off the Mercedes ladder and was the one squeezed out of Force India to accommodate Lance Stroll and had a year on the sidelines as a result. One of those situations was a lot more meritocratic than the other, and he clawed his way back from both.

A very good driver, with some limitations, and plenty to offer the rest of the racing world outside F1.

But he can have no complaints about when and how his time in F1 is concluding.

Young drivers deserve the chance

Gary Anderson

I think he has had a fair crack at it with the teams he has driven for but never really stood out as being exceptional. He's been good but not exceptional as so many are.

Also to add to that he has never seemed like a team player. I remember him colliding frequently with his team-mates. Yes, he has been better lately, but perhaps that's just because they haven’t been on the same part of the track for very long.

It’s also interesting that since these rumours of him being replaced, he was able to up his game in Baku. To me, that shows a driver who is not willing to give his all every time he sits in the car.

Also, I’m very happy to see a team giving up and coming drivers an opportunity; we have far too many journeymen retaining seats in F1. I’m not saying any of the current drivers are not capable of being in F1, but there are only 22 seats in the formula that is classified as the cream de la crème of motorsport.

There are probably 50 other drivers out there coming through the lower formulas that are better or have more potential than 50% of them.

Sorry to go off piste with this verdict, but I am a big fan of getting new talent into F1 to allow them to show their true talent against the resident pack of drivers.

One thing F1 could do is to allow teams to bring three assembled cars to each Grand Prix, after all, they do bring a third car in spares, but it isn’t completely assembled. If they did that, then they could run three cars in an extended 90-minute FP1 session at all race weekends - to reduce the traffic at some events, only allow two cars from each team on the track at any one point in time.

For sprint weekends, go back to two cars for sprint qualifying and the sprint race, but legislate that each team must alternate their resident driver and run at least one driver that has never competed in more than two grand prixs.

Sprint points from both drivers competing only count towards the teams' separate ‘sprint constructors' championship’ and a  ‘sprint drivers' championship’ that might just open the door to finding the next superstar.

Then after the sprint race on the Saturday your normal two grand prix drivers take over for a 30-minute FP2 session just before grand prix qualifying, with the grand prix as normal on Sunday.

Don't rule out a third chapter

Josh Suttill

Given Ocon's F1 career was such an improbability in the first place, I wouldn't rule out the prospect of him fighting his way back onto the F1 grid (again).

He's only 30, and he's currently performing at a higher level than any axed driver since probably ex-team-mate Sergio Perez's startling end to 2020.

Think of Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull), Perez (Red Bull), Daniel Ricciardo (AlphaTauri), Kevin Magnussen (Haas), Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu (Sauber). None of them was performing anywhere near the level Ocon has managed in recent rounds.

So Ocon has the powerful weapon of incumbency for eight more rounds, driving an upgraded Haas car that now looks capable of fighting for points at most tracks.

If he can continue to deliver some Bearman-beating weekends, then he'll walk out of F1 having delivered a strong reminder that he should be the experienced driver of choice if an F1 team needs one, be it as a stand-in or full-time driver.

A return won't happen in 2027, but perhaps it will be just enough to keep him floating on the market for 2028.