The People v. Ocon and Haas
Anyone remember Bertrand Gachot? Sure you do! (Subtle dig at the new fans. I’m not very good at reading the room.)
Well, he was the Belgian driver born in Luxembourg who famously went to jail after pepper-spraying a taxi driver, which resulted in the legendary debut of future F1 champion Michael Schumacher. We did hear from Gachot again, as he returned to racing and eventually won Le Mans, but his story is still a reminder of how quickly things can change in Formula 1.
I bring this story up because, like anyone who’s been following F1 news lately, I’ve been watching the abrupt ending of Esteban Ocon’s journey with Haas F1. Hell, maybe even his career in the sport entirely.
For those not fully caught up, Ocon reportedly had an argument with team principal Ayao Komatsu, which led to a major falling-out between the two. On Saturday morning, Ocon reportedly attempted to apologize to Komatsu, but the relationship had apparently deteriorated beyond repair. Minutes later, it was announced that he would be replaced by Ryo Hirakawa for the remainder of the weekend. Ocon subsequently left, and the situation sent shockwaves through the sport.
To make matters worse for him, newly signed rookie driver Rafael Câmara will now make his F1 debut at his home Grand Prix in Brazil this weekend, with Ocon no longer expected to return for the remaining races of 2026.
While there are some obvious differences between the Gachot situation and Ocon’s departure from Haas (not least the considerably smaller amount of jail time involved), I thought I’d offer my own take on the proceedings. After all, I’m just an opinionated F1 fan with my own perspective on the sport. Hell, rather than making a silly tweet to make myself look better or worse, I see a massive opportunity to publicly flex my opinions on one of the sport’s biggest current dramas. Or at least one of many involving Haas F1.
The Case Against Ocon
I like Ocon. I always have, and even after this fiasco, I probably always will.
I believe he’s done some great things in the sport, such as his brilliant victory in Hungary in 2021. He’s also had a good record against his teammates, most notably Fernando Alonso in 2021 and 2022. I also like that he stood his ground against Max in 2018 when he was trying to unlap himself. As time has gone by, we’ve increasingly blamed Ocon for that incident, but let’s not forget how ridiculous Max was for unnecessarily dive-bombing a lapped car while leading, before physically confronting the Frenchman afterward.
Aside from his success on track, everything I’ve read suggests he’s a lovely guy. So I guess you can say that, yeah, I like him. He’s quick and kind. Go figure. There are more things to hate in this world.
That said, he’s also given people plenty of reasons not to particularly like him.
For starters, he’s been underwhelming in recent years against drivers such as Gasly and Bearman. He’s crash-prone and often inconsistent with his performances. Take his seemingly friction-filled season with Alpine in 2024, where he infamously crashed into teammate Pierre Gasly at Portier in Monaco.
And despite how “nice” he is off track, he’s been labeled by colleagues across the paddock and at the teams he’s raced for as “difficult to work with.” Case in point: the reported disagreement this weekend over tire strategy, which apparently led to a major fallout with his race engineer and Ayao Komatsu.
How he managed to piss off Komatsu is still one of the great mysteries of the racing world, yet here we are.
The reported confrontation (which, according to some accounts, wasn’t really a physical altercation) may have been the final nail in the coffin for Ocon’s relationship with the team. His tenure can be summarized as inconsistent, crash-prone and filled with friction. It’s hard to defend and, frankly, easy to criticize.
Ocon has become a disappointing driver for Haas, and I think he’s let plenty of people down during his time there.
That said…
The Case Against Haas
Oh, Haas. I love you so much as a team.
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There’s so much hope and so many good things going for you, along with some pretty fun moments and massive potential. You’re the only team in the paddock that really reminds me of good ol’ Jordan (yep, there’s the connection). It’s a team that uses outside suppliers, secondary parts and underutilized resources to compete as a midfield team. They’ve had their moments, such as their first pole position in 2022 with K-Mag, their fifth-place finish in the 2018 standings, and, of course, their amazing debut in 2016, when they scored sixth place at the Australian Grand Prix.
I also really like their newly established partnership with Toyota, which I eventually predict could lead to a full team acquisition in some capacity, making Haas a more stable and independently resourced team.
I’m also a big fan of Ayao Komatsu, who has had an amazing journey to the position he’s in today. Everything he’s done seems to have been approached with decency and a desire to retain his integrity. It’s easy to lose your cool and get emotional during difficult seasons like 2026, which has been far from successful.
Haas has a pretty good case against it, though.
Historically, this team has made dramatic, opportunistic and bizarre decisions that have given it a frustrating reputation. One that comes with more skepticism than confidence from anyone considering working with Haas.
Case in point: 2019, when they were exclusively sponsored by RICH Energy, a now-defunct energy drink business (at least that’s what I’m seeing, but I’m dying to know how they’re doing these days).
Haas signed an insane deal with RICH Energy, only for the company to pull out of the agreement halfway through the season. What followed was a series of lawsuits and public drama that no team deserves to go through. Yet Haas arguably brought some of that trouble on itself, and rightly ended up on the wrong side of the spotlight.
What about 2021, when they hired Nikita Mazepin, the son of Russian oligarch Dmitry Mazepin, who famously appeared in a controversial social media video involving a woman before even racing in F1?
His performances that season were hardly impressive, and yet Haas kept him. It ultimately took Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the termination of the team’s relationship with Uralkali and Haas’s decision to drop the Russian driver to bring that arrangement to an end.
So yes, Haas is without a shadow of a doubt a would-be underdog team. Likable, but not always great operationally.
Even if TGR eventually ends up taking a bigger role in operating the team, there will need to be some serious restructuring if Haas wants to become a race-winning organization.
So letting go of a driver over an internal disagreement about tire strategy during practice is just about as silly as it gets.
The Verdict
So, Ocon is a difficult driver to work with who has already underwhelmed his team and much of the F1 world, versus Haas, which has been an underwhelming racing operation that somehow manages to keep confusing the F1 world.
It’s fair to say that both sides probably should never have worked together in the first place. The way these events have unfolded has been confusing, frustrating and frankly pretty embarrassing.
Based on everything we’ve been told, I don’t think either side comes out of this looking particularly good.
Yes, Haas has the right to terminate its driver, but doing it in the middle of a race weekend and bringing in a replacement before FP3 is nonsensical. For Ocon, however, his relationships with teams have repeatedly become a source of friction, and this latest episode is another major setback. Whether either side has a legitimate argument or not, both need to change course if they want any chance of future success.
If Haas wants to be successful, it needs to act like a world-class Formula 1 operation. Look at Force India and Racing Point as examples. They consistently found ways to maintain performance and operational standards, even during their worst periods.
Ocon, meanwhile, needs to become a better team player. He’s now at a point where his reputation suggests someone who believes he’s above it all, whether that’s fair or not.
Maybe both sides should just go see a therapist at this stage.
It really can’t get much worse.
