Haas drops Esteban Ocon for remainder of 2026 season

Haas has confirmed that Esteban Ocon will not drive for the team for the remainder of the 2026 season. The decision was announced on Tuesday with four grands prix remaining.

RacingNews365 reports that Haas dropped Ocon following a falling-out during the Mexico City Grand Prix weekend, after he challenged race engineer Laura Mueller's FP2 run plans over team radio. The outlet reports that Ocon disputed an instruction to switch his high-fuel run from soft to medium tyres.

RacingNews365 understands that the situation escalated during Friday's debrief with Komatsu. Ocon has denied social media reports that he and the Haas team principal had a violent altercation in Mexico.

Motorsport.com reports that Ryo Hirakawa replaced Ocon for the rest of the Mexico City weekend. Hirakawa finished 10th after post-race penalties, earning one point.

Motorsport.com reports that Rafael Camara will make his Formula 1 debut alongside Oliver Bearman at the Brazilian Grand Prix. RacingNews365 reports that Hirakawa is unavailable because his Toyota World Endurance Championship commitments at Monza clash with the São Paulo weekend.

“It’s a lot of sadness but I honestly felt that was the only decision I could make, professionally, as a team principal of this team. Totally professional decision, nothing else,” said Komatsu.

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said: “On the other side, Esteban felt that personally, he wasn't wrong in the things he said.”

“Of course it's strange not having Esteban here, and it's obviously a challenging situation for everybody. I really do feel for him. Of course the situation is complicated, and things have changed,” said Haas driver Bearman.

Camara leads the Formula 2 championship and had already signed to partner Bearman full-time at Haas in 2027. Both drivers came through the Ferrari Driver Academy.