Esteban Ocon confirmed he has “nothing to announce but” concerning his Method 1 future after essentially the most troublesome begin to a season of his profession.
The Haas driver has scored simply three factors throughout the opening 10 rounds of the 2026 marketing campaign, claiming to battle with the inconsistencies of the VF-26.
Nevertheless it has simply been a continuation of his poor type from 2025, a season by which he completed fifteenth within the standings and three factors behind rookie team-mate Oliver Bearman – who’s already 15 clear this yr.
So, with Ocon’s contract expiring on the finish of 2026, his seat is below risk for 2027 and Haas is known to be contemplating Leonardo Fornaroli or Rafael Camara as Bearman’s subsequent team-mate.
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It was due to this fact put to Ocon forward of this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix, which is the ultimate race earlier than the annual summer time shutdown the place driver signings for the next season are sometimes confirmed.
“After all nothing to announce but,” mentioned the 29-year-old. “The summer time break shall be fairly busy. We are going to see. In the mean time we’re centered on this race and we’ll see what occurs.
“There’s all the time many choices. In the mean time we are going to talk about with the workforce first. I have been right here for 2 years. I have been satisfied by Ayao [Komatsu] to return right here. The primary dialogue will occur with this workforce for positive.”
Esteban Ocon, Haas F1 Crew
Picture by: Guido De Bortoli / LAT Pictures through Getty Pictures
The 2021 Hungarian GP victor has merely underwhelmed since becoming a member of Haas from Alpine for 2025, notably as he grew to become the American outfit’s first ever race-winning driver.
Ocon was anticipated to guide the squad ahead on this new period, however the veteran has struggled to place a run of outcomes collectively and is being comfortably overwhelmed by his 21-year-old team-mate.
The Frenchman even beforehand claimed that the inconsistencies of the VF-26 had hindered him in any respect however two rounds in 2026 – his solely factors finishes got here in Japan and Monaco – marking Ocon’s worst begin since his F1 debut in 2016.
So when requested in Budapest to summarise his season to this point, he replied: “Not frustration possibly, however too many difficulties. Too many points. Too many issues that prevented us from performing.
“Most likely essentially the most troublesome first half of the season that I’ve ever had. When it comes to how constant the automobile was, from one race to a different, and what number of issues I had this yr.
“I hope it would get higher. We’re working arduous for it to get higher, all collectively, and it is not solely powerful for me, it is powerful for the entire workforce.
“However we all know what we’ve got to do and we’re sticking collectively to repair the issues. That is the necessary factor.”
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