Esteban Ocon has hinted he might leave Haas at the end of the season, saying “at the moment” he’s a free agent for 2027.
Ocon joined Haas in 2025 but struggled to perform against teammate Oliver Bearman and only just managed to hold his seat coming into this year. Sources told ESPN that Haas were close to bringing in Yuki Tsunoda in his place for this season.
Despite that second chance, Ocon’s performances have not improved this year -- he has three points to Bearman’s 18 -- and it has seemed increasingly likely he will not be retained for a third season.
Brazilian Formula 2 driver Rafael Camara, 21, is believed to be the frontrunner to partner Bearman next season, while the team also recently handed a test to McLaren junior driver Leonardo Foronoli.
Speaking ahead of this week’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Ocon said talks about his future are wide open.
“At the moment I’m definitely a free agent for next year,” Ocon is quoted as saying by Autosport and other outlets from his Baku media session. “There are things in discussion that are out of my control. There are certain topics that are out of my control. So I will keep pushing until the end of the year and see how it goes.”
Asked if staying at Haas is still an option, Ocon said simply: “Let’s see.”
Haas is not expected to make a 2027 driver announcement this week.
Ocon might turn out to be the first major mover in this season’s driver market, which has been remarkably static.
Most teams are continuing with their existing line-ups -- on Wednesday Red Bull confirmed an extension for the returning Isack Hadjar, keeping him with Max Verstappen for another year, while Fernando Alonso is widely expected to remain with Aston Martin for another season, although he is yet to make a decision.
Cadillac might represent the only F1 race seat available to Ocon, with Valtteri Bottas looking unlikely to stay beyond 2026 -- however, sources have told ESPN that F1’s newest team is still keen to give American driver Colton Herta an opportunity alongside Sergio Pérez.
Ocon, 30, is in his 10th season of racing in Formula 1, having debuted with Manor in 2016.
As a youngster the French driver was considered one of the sport’s future superstars, beating a young Verstappen to the 2014 Formula 3 European Championship.
He was a Mercedes junior driver in the early days of his career but never quite lived up to the lofty billing.
His sole F1 win came for Alpine at the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix.
