Haas boss breaks silence on Esteban Ocon’s ‘free agent’ comment

Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu has not closed the door to Esteban Ocon, but says the team is still evaluating its options for F1 2027.

PlanetF1.com understands Ocon will not form part of Haas’ driver line-up for next season, with the team instead signing Rafael Camara as Oliver Bearman’s new teammate. Komatsu, though, insists that no decision has been made.

Ocon’s seat at Haas has been the subject of several rumours this season, but while whispers of a fallout with Komatsu were emphatically denied by both the driver and the team principal, there was no denying that Ocon has been trailing Bearman in the standings.

Ocon has three points to the Briton’s 18, and it could yet spell the end of his time at Haas.

The Frenchman confirmed in Baku that he is a “free agent” for next season.

“There are things in discussion that are out of my control,” he added. “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.”

Haas has tested several drivers in TPC [Testing Previous Car] outings in the past few weeks, including Camara, McLaren’s Leonardo Fonaróli and its own reserve driver, Jack Doohan.

Komatsu insists that no decision has been made.

“We haven’t made any decision yet,” he told PlanetF1.com and other accredited media in Baku.

“Every driver has a, let’s say, certain point in the year to decide on the option. It just means that we haven’t decided on that option yet. But that was quite a long time ago.

“So his condition hasn’t really changed. We still are trying to finalise what we’re gonna do for next year.”

Asked specifically about Ocon and whether he was still an option, Komatsu said: “Yes, like I said, we haven’t made any decisions yet.”

The team boss revealed Haas had not set a deadline for its decision.

“Soon, within the next couple of weeks,” he said. “We’ve done all the evaluations, so we’re just waiting to summarise our findings, have a discussion internally, have a chat with Gene [Haas], and then we take the final decision.”

PlanetF1.com has learned that Formula 2 driver Camara is leading the running to replace Ocon.

Asked about the prospect of having a rookie in the car, Komatsu said he had no issue fielding a driver who is new to Formula 1.

“Yes, that’s why we’ve tested them,” he said. “If that wasn’t the option, why do we test?

“All three drivers we tested in Portimao, and also Jack last week, they’ve done a very, very good job. So I think we are in a very fortunate position to have such interest from very talented drivers.

“We have just got to analyse the result very carefully because it’s TPC test, it’s very, very difficult to normalise the conditions – changing the wind, track temperature, lap time changes quite a lot.

“It’s a very, very important issue, obviously. And, of course, we are talking about the lives of those people. For those guys, Formula 1 was always a dream to achieve.

“So we got to make the right decision. That’s why we’re taking time to just make sure we do it right.”

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Should Haas opt for a rookie, the team will have one of the least experienced line-ups on the grid as Oliver Bearman is currently competing in his second season in the sport.

Komatsu, though, doesn’t see that as a problem either.

“No, look, driver combination is obviously a pretty complex topic,” he said. “Yes, we’ve been happy with Ollie as well. So, like I said, we are still finalising our internal discussion. I really, I cannot say anything more than that.”

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

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