Haas confirms Esteban Ocon departure

American Formula One team Haas have announced that their French driver Esteban Ocon will be parting ways with the team at the end of the Formula One 2026 season. Ocon had joined Haas at the start of the Formula One 2025 season from Alpine.

With Ocon leaving, Haas have one seat unconfirmed for the Formula One 2027 with Ollie Bearman locked in for the second seat. For Ocon, there is nothing confirmed yet and the Frenchman who made his F1 debut back in 2016 with Manor, has spent the majority of his career with midfield teams including the likes of Force India, Racing Point, Renault, Alpine and Haas. Ocon has one career win to date which came with Alpine in 2021 at the Hungarian Grand Prix. 

Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal of TGR Haas F1 Team commented,

“I’d like to thank Esteban for everything he’s contributed to the team since joining us in 2025. His professionalism and commitment have proved valuable as we continue to grow as an organization. Together this year we tackled the challenge of a major regulation change, where Esteban’s driving experience and inputs were significant as we’ve worked hard to develop the VF-26 across the season. There’s still plenty of racing ahead, and our focus remains on working together to maximize every opportunity through to the final race of the year.”

Esteban Ocon released a statement on his social media accounts, which read,

“My time with Haas F1 Team will come to an end at the end of the 2026 season. I leave this project with my head held high and proud of my performances in what were not always the easiest of circumstances for various reasons and factors outside of my control. My immediate focus is the next race weekend. I will continue to work hard with the team, maximise every opportunity, and keep extracting every bit of performance from the car. There are still many races to go this season and, as always, I will give it my everything behind the wheel for myself and for my team. I am still motivated. I am still hungry. This is absolutely not the end of my Formula 1 career.”