Ocon confirms Haas departure at end of season, insists F1 career 'absolutely' not over

[p]The 30-year-old joined the US-owned team from Alpine in 2025 ‌and is currently 16th in the championship and ‌13 points behind British teammate [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/bearman-oliver/tMI3u5xo/"]Oliver Bearman[/a].[/p][p]Haas, the smallest ‌team on the grid, are seventh of 11.[/p][p][b]"My ‌time with Haas F1 Team will come to an end at the end of the 2026 season. 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,"[/b] said [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ocon-esteban/nZKY1D4O/"]Ocon[/a] on social media.[/p][p][b]"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. I am still motivated. I am still hungry. This is absolutely not the end of my Formula 1 career."[/b][/p][embed guid="9bfcaf5e-8659-4696-a292-d87a3c6dbe05" url="https://x.com/F1/status/2105206589351161918" social-type="twitter" /][p]Haas confirmed the ‌departure in a separate statement thanking Ocon for his contribution.[/p][p]The team have several candidates to replace Ocon, with Ferrari-backed Brazilian [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/camara-rafael/bkqrO7t2/"]Rafael Camara[/a] one of the favourites.[/p][p]Haas use Ferrari engines while also having close technical ties with Toyota.[/p][p][b]Ocon's chances of getting another race seat are not great, with Red Bull-owned Racing Bulls and newcomers Cadillac yet to confirm their 2027 ‌lineups but both having other options including retaining their ​existing drivers.[/b][/p][p]The Frenchman, a race winner with ‌Renault-owned Alpine in Hungary in 2021, could switch to being a test and reserve driver and carried out that role for Mercedes in 2019 after losing his place at Force India (now Aston ⁠Martin).[/p][p]The next race is ⁠the Bahrain Grand Prix ‌in Malaysia this weekend.[/p]