Reserve driver Hirakawa replaces Ocon for F1 race debut with Haas

Haas head into a race weekend with a new name on the entry list and an uncertain road ahead. | Photo Credit: REUTERS

Haas confirmed on Saturday that Japanese reserve driver Ryo Hirakawa will make his Formula One debut at this weekend’s Mexico City Grand Prix, taking the seat of Esteban Ocon at the US-owned team.

A team spokesman said illness was not the reason for the swap but offered no more detail. The FIA, the sport’s governing body, confirmed the change, and Ocon has not yet commented.

The Frenchman is due to leave Haas at the end of the season, with Brazil’s Rafael Camara stepping up from Formula Two for 2027.

ALSO READ: How Kimi Antonelli can become F1’s youngest world champion at the Mexican Grand Prix

Hirakawa, 32, is a two-time world endurance champion and a Le Mans 24 Hours winner with Toyota, which has a technical partnership with Ferrari-powered Haas. He drove in first practice at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez on Friday, the third time he has done so this season.

Haas sit seventh in the constructors championship, seven points clear of Audi. Britain’s Ollie Bearman has scored 23 of the team’s 30 points across 18 races.

With five races left, the driver change and the absence of any further explanation have raised questions over who will partner Bearman after Mexico.

The next race is the Brazilian Grand Prix in Sao Paulo, a home event for Camara, who leads the F2 championship. He has no races scheduled until the final rounds in Qatar and Abu Dhabi, at the end of November and the start of December. Haas also have Australia’s Jack Doohan, a former Alpine race driver, as a reserve.

Ocon’s future in Formula One is unclear. Cadillac and Racing Bulls are the only teams that may have openings, and both have obvious candidates other than the Frenchman.

On Friday, Haas team boss Ayao Komatsu addressed reports that he and Ocon had argued at the Miami Grand Prix in May.

“Some people invent the story. You know, what happened in Miami, about apparently I had an argument with Esteban Ocon? That’s just absolutely zero truth in there,” he said. “Even those people claiming that they had some insider information, etcetera, absolute total nonsense.”

A tense radio exchange between Ocon and his race engineer Laura Mueller in Friday’s second practice also drew attention, with the driver unhappy about the team’s call to put him on the medium tyre.

“No, no. I wanted the soft. Don’t do that to me. Come on,” said Ocon.