Haas drop Esteban Ocon mid-weekend in Mexico, Ryo Hirakawa makes his F1 debut
Haas have replaced Esteban Ocon with reserve Ryo Hirakawa for the rest of the Mexico City Grand Prix weekend, without giving a reason. It isn't illness, and it comes a day after a tense radio row in practice.
Esteban Ocon won’t race in Mexico. Haas announced on Saturday morning that reserve driver Ryo Hirakawa will replace him for final practice, qualifying and Sunday’s race, which will be Hirakawa’s Formula 1 debut.
The team gave no reason. A spokesperson would only say it wasn’t because Ocon was ill, and Haas said “no further statements will be made at this time.”
What happened on Friday
Hirakawa had already driven Ocon’s car in first practice on Friday, one of the sessions every team must give to a rookie. Ocon got it back for second practice, and that’s where things turned tense.
Haas changed his long run from soft tyres to mediums, because Oliver Bearman’s tyres weren’t looking good. Ocon wasn’t happy. “No, no, I wanted the soft, like, don’t do that to me. Come on,” he said on the radio. “It is my turn this weekend. Come on.”
He finished the session 13th, one place ahead of Bearman. By Saturday morning he was out of the car. He was seen walking back to the Haas hospitality unit with his helmet still on.
Why it’s happened
Officially, we don’t know. But it doesn’t come out of nowhere:
- He’s already leaving. Haas announced in September that Ocon will go at the end of the season, with Ferrari junior Rafael Camara taking his seat for 2027.
- The relationship had soured. Several sources told ESPN that it had “deteriorated in recent months”, and was already strained before that.
- It nearly happened a year ago. Team boss Ayao Komatsu almost replaced Ocon at the end of 2025, but backed out at the last minute.
Haas haven’t said whether Ocon will be back for São Paulo next weekend.
Esteban Ocon in qualifying at the 2026 Japanese Grand Prix. Photo: Wan Mikhail Roslan/ZUMA Press
Who is Ryo Hirakawa?
Hirakawa, 32, is Haas’s reserve driver, there through the team’s partnership with Toyota. He’s a sports car star: a world endurance champion and a Le Mans 24 Hours winner with Toyota in 2022.
He’s driven F1 practice sessions for McLaren, Alpine and Haas since the end of 2024, and Mexico was already his third practice outing for Haas this year. On Sunday he becomes the oldest F1 debutant since Andre Lotterer drove for Caterham at Spa in 2014.
A sad way to go
Ocon has been in F1 since 2016 and won the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix with Alpine. Whatever happened in Mexico, being taken out of the car mid-weekend, with no explanation, is a harsh way for his Haas career to end, if this is the end.
Lewis Hamilton, asked about Ocon’s future, backed him: “I think he’s a very talented driver, and I think he deserves to be here. But when one door closes, it opens up new opportunities for something even better.”
