Esteban Ocon will leave Haas at the end of the 2026 Formula 1 season, the team confirmed on Sept. 30, with his replacement still undecided. The 30-year-old French driver joined the American team from Alpine and is completing his second season alongside Oliver Bearman. Haas said it would make no further comment on its driver line-up for the time being.

Team principal Ayao Komatsu thanked Ocon for his contribution since he joined in 2025. “His professionalism and commitment have proved valuable as we continue to grow as an organisation,” Komatsu said. He also credited Ocon’s experience and feedback during a major rules change as the team developed its VF-26 car over the season.

“Together this year we tackled the challenge of a major regulation change, where Esteban’s driving experience and inputs were significant as we’ve worked hard to develop the VF-26 across the season,” Komatsu said. “There’s still plenty of racing ahead and our focus remains on working together to maximise every opportunity through to the final race of the year.”

Ocon said in a social media post that he was proud of his work despite difficult circumstances. “I leave this project with my head held high and proud of my performances in what were not always the easiest of circumstances for various reasons and factors outside of my control,” he wrote. He said his immediate attention was on the next race weekend and continuing to extract performance from the car.

“There are still many races to go this season and, as always, I will give it my everything behind the wheel for myself and for my team,” Ocon said. “I am still motivated. I am still hungry. This is absolutely not the end of my Formula 1 career.”

The announcement follows a challenging spell for Ocon at Haas. Autosport reported that he has attributed his struggles to inconsistencies in the car, which it said affected him more than Bearman. Ocon scored points in Baku the previous weekend, and RaceFans reported that he finished eighth in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, ahead of Bearman in the other Haas. RaceFans described the result as the team’s first points since June.

The sources give different accounts of the points gap. Autosport said Ocon had scored 45 points to Bearman’s 61 over their time together, while RaceFans said Ocon trailed his team-mate 20 points to seven in the championship. Autosport also reported that Ocon was behind Bearman in 2026 qualifying, with a 13-6 record, and placed him 16th in the drivers’ standings, three positions behind Bearman. Haas was seventh in the constructors’ standings after 15 of 23 rounds. RaceFans said eight rounds remained.

Ocon’s next move is unknown. Autosport named reigning Formula 2 champion Leonardo Fornaroli and current F2 leader Rafael Camara as possible Haas candidates. RaceFans said the Ferrari customer team was tipped to select Camara, who, like Bearman, is part of Ferrari’s young driver programme. Komatsu said during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix weekend that Haas had reached its decision on Ocon some time earlier, while the team was still working to finalize its plans for next year.

“Every driver has a certain closing point in the year to decide on the option,” Komatsu said. “It just means that we haven’t decided on that option yet, but that was quite a long time ago. So his situation hasn’t really changed. We still are trying to finalise what we’re going to do for next year.”

Ocon said the previous weekend that he was a “free agent.” After scoring points, he said, “I can do these things, when I’ve got the same car, as what the Haas car can deliver.” He also described his record across racing categories: “I’ve won in every category I’ve driven,” Ocon said. “I won in go-karts, I won a Formula Renault I won in GP3 I won the Formula 3, I won in Formula 1. I can fight out there, I’ve got what it takes.” He added: “I put the work out there and I don’t just sit around and think I’ve done enough, I want to do more,” and said the result felt “pretty satisfying” despite not being a win.

Ocon made his F1 debut with Manor in 2016 and had a brief stint at Force India before losing his seat after Lawrence Stroll bought the team and gave it to his son Lance. After a year as a Mercedes test driver, Ocon returned with Renault in 2020. Renault became Alpine the following year, and Ocon scored the team’s first and, to date, only win at the Hungaroring in 2021. Alpine announced in June 2024 that he would leave after that season, then dropped him before the final race at short notice to promote replacement Jack Doohan.

At the end of 2026, Ocon is expected to have 203 grand prix starts, one victory and four podium finishes, all achieved with Alpine. His Haas departure concludes the two-season stint that began after he left Alpine for 2025.

Based on reporting by RaceFans and Autosport.