Esteban Ocon to leave Haas after 2026 season, marking a possible end to F1 career
Esteban Ocon will leave TGR Haas F1 Team at the end of the 2026 season, bringing his two-year spell with the American team to a close and leaving the Frenchman without a confirmed Formula 1 seat for next year.
Haas and Ocon confirmed the decision on Wednesday after weeks of speculation surrounding his future. The 30-year-old joined the team from Alpine at the start of 2025 and is currently 16th in the drivers’ championship, 13 points behind team-mate Oliver Bearman.
- From Manor debut to first Grand Prix victory
- Podiums in Monaco and Brazil
- Two difficult seasons with Haas
- Could Ocon move to WEC?
Ocon stressed that leaving Haas does not mean he has given up on Formula 1.
«My time with Haas F1 Team will come to an end at the end of the 2026 season,» he wrote, adding that he remained motivated and hungry and that the move was «absolutely not the end» of his F1 career.
His options for 2027 are nevertheless narrowing. Most teams have already settled their driver line-ups, while Racing Bulls and Haas are among the few teams with seats still unresolved. Ocon had described himself as a «free agent» ahead of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix and said he was holding discussions about his future.
On media day in Baku, @OconEsteban called himself a ‘free agent’ for 2027. Then on race day, he put on a stellar performance like this 🤩 #F1 #AzerbaijanGP https://t.co/CWW8t61pk0
— Formula 1 (@F1) September 27, 2026
With Racing Bulls being surrounded by speculations of Liam Lawson potentially being replaced by a Red Bull junior, Nikola Tsolov, Ocon is out of F1 for at least the 2027 season.
From Manor debut to first Grand Prix victory
Ocon arrived in Formula 1 midway through the 2016 season as one of Mercedes’ most highly rated young drivers.
Born in Évreux, France, he had won the European Formula 3 championship in 2014, defeating a field that included Max Verstappen, before taking the GP3 title the following year.
He began 2016 as Renault’s reserve driver and competed in DTM with Mercedes before Manor called him up to replace Rio Haryanto from the Belgian Grand Prix. Ocon was only 19 when he made his Formula 1 debut.
His performances earned him a full-time seat alongside Sergio Pérez at Force India for 2017.
Ocon established himself quickly. He finished eighth in the drivers’ standings in his first full season and became known for his consistency, scoring points regularly in a Force India car that finished fourth in the constructors’ championship.
His relationship with Pérez was considerably less straightforward. The team-mates collided several times during their two seasons together, including incidents in Azerbaijan, Belgium and Singapore, leading Force India at one stage to impose restrictions on them racing each other.
Despite demonstrating enough pace to remain in F1, Ocon lost his seat after Racing Point took over and restructured the team. Lance Stroll joined the team for 2019 alongside Pérez, leaving Ocon without a race drive. He spent that season on the sidelines as Mercedes’ reserve and test driver.
His F1 career resumed in 2020 when Renault chose him to partner Daniel Ricciardo. The comeback produced Ocon’s first Formula 1 podium at the Sakhir Grand Prix in Bahrain, where he finished second behind Pérez.
But his defining F1 moment arrived the following year.
At the chaotic 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix, a first-lap accident removed or delayed several leading cars. Ocon emerged near the front and spent much of the race defending his lead from four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel.
After 70 laps, he crossed the line first to claim both his first Formula 1 victory and the first victory for the newly renamed Alpine team. It remains Ocon’s only Grand Prix win. The victory also made him the first French driver to win for a French constructor since Alain Prost with Renault in 1983.
Podiums in Monaco and Brazil
Ocon remained with the Enstone team through several changes in identity, management and team-mates.
His strongest full season statistically came in 2022. Ocon scored 92 points and finished eighth in the championship, ahead of two-time world champion Fernando Alonso in the standings. His consistency helped Alpine secure fourth place in the constructors’ championship, the team’s best result of that period.
Another major result followed in 2023. At Monaco, Ocon qualified fourth before moving up one position following Charles Leclerc’s grid penalty. He resisted pressure in difficult conditions to finish third, securing a podium at one of Formula 1’s most prestigious races.
He also finished fourth at the inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix later that year and ended the season with 58 points.
His final Alpine campaign in 2024 was significantly more difficult as the team struggled with an uncompetitive car. Ocon nevertheless produced one of the biggest surprises of the season at a rain-hit São Paulo Grand Prix.
He finished second behind Verstappen while team-mate Pierre Gasly took third, giving Alpine an unexpected double podium. The result delivered a huge haul of constructors’ championship points and helped lift the team to sixth in the standings.
His relationship with Alpine had deteriorated by then. After a collision with Gasly at Monaco earlier that year, team principal Bruno Famin publicly criticised Ocon and warned there would be consequences. The two sides had already decided to separate before the end of the season.
Ocon then signed for Haas for 2025, becoming the first Grand Prix winner in the team’s history to join it as a race driver.
Two difficult seasons with Haas
Ocon arrived at Haas alongside rookie Oliver Bearman as part of an entirely new driver pairing. His first season produced several strong individual results. Ocon finished fifth in China and seventh in both Monaco and Abu Dhabi, ending 2025 with 38 points.
The 2026 season has proved more difficult. Ahead of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Ocon had scored three points compared with Bearman’s 18. He nevertheless argued that the points totals did not accurately reflect his performance and maintained that he still had more to give in Formula 1.
His eighth-place finish in Azerbaijan offered a late boost, but it was not enough to secure another Haas contract. Team principal Ayao Komatsu had already been evaluating possible replacements through Haas’ testing programme. The candidates have included Ferrari-backed Rafael Câmara, reigning Formula 2 champion Leonardo Fornaroli, Toyota-backed Ryo Hirakawa and Haas reserve Jack Doohan.
The decision leaves him approaching the end of his 10th year in Formula 1.
Could Ocon move to WEC?
Attention is now turning to what Ocon could do if a Formula 1 race seat does not become available.
Reports in Europe have linked him with the FIA World Endurance Championship, where the Hypercar category now features many of the world’s largest manufacturers.
Spanish outlet DiarioMotor reported on 29 September that Ocon had explored possibilities with Toyota and Aston Martin in WEC as his Formula 1 options diminished. Toyota would appear superficially to be a logical connection.
Toyota has been preparing younger endurance driver Esteban Masson as a possible replacement should Hirakawa move to Formula 1. However, the latest report based on comments from Toyota management casts significant doubt on Ocon taking that place.
