Simon Galloway/Getty Images
Hirakawa replaces Ocon for Mexico in shock late move for Haas
Esteban Ocon has been replaced by Ryo Hirakawa for the rest of the Mexico City Grand Prix weekend in a move that could signal the end of the Frenchman’s career at Haas.
Hirakawa completed an FP1 outing in place of Ocon on Friday, before Ocon returned to the car for FP2 and set the 13th fastest time. On Saturday morning, Haas announced Hirakawa would be driving for the rest of the race weekend and did not provide a reason for Ocon’s absence, but RACER understands the change is not illness related following a number of drivers feeling unwell over the past week.
“TGR Haas F1 Team reserve driver Ryo Hirakawa will replace Esteban Ocon for the remainder of the weekend’s Mexico City Grand Prix,” a Haas statement read.
“Ryo participated in FP1 at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez on Friday, his third free practice outing of the season driving the VF-26, finishing 15th overall.
“The Japanese driver will partner teammate Ollie Bearman through final practice and qualifying on Saturday and Sunday’s 71-lap grand prix – marking Ryo’s Formula 1 race debut.
“No further statements will be made at this time.”
Ocon is already set to leave Haas at the end of the season, having not had his contract extended and been replaced by rookie Rafael Camara for 2027. At the end of 2024, when Ocon was set to leave Alpine to join Haas the following year, he was also dropped before the end of that season as his future replacement Jack Doohan raced in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Camara was scheduled to carry out FP1 duties for Ferrari in next weekend’s Sao Paulo Grand Prix, and Haas can call on a pair of reserve drivers in the form of Hirakawa or Doohan should there not be a scenario where Ocon returns to the car at Interlagos.
Who is Ryo Hirakawa?
- 2012 Japanese F3 Champion
2012 Porsche Carrera Cup Champion
2017 Super GT Champion
Runner-up in Super GT in 2018,2019 and 2020
Runner up in Suer Formula 2020
Joined Toyota’s WEC squad in 2022 and took the World Drivers Championship and a Le mans win in his debut season
Retained the Drivers Championship in 2022
Currently leads the World Championship standings with the season finale at Monza next weekend
Has won 25 races since 2015 in LMP2, Hypercar, GT500 and Super Formula
Will become the second oldest F1 rookie this century (after Andre Lotterer in 2014) at 32 years, 7 months, and 25 days on race day
Presented by:
Chris Medland
While studying Sports Journalism at the University of Central Lancashire, Chris managed to talk his way into working at the British Grand Prix in 2008 and was retained for three years before joining ESPN F1 as Assistant Editor. After three further years at ESPN, a spell as F1 Editor at Crash Media Group was followed by the major task of launching F1i.com’s English-language website and running it as Editor. Present at every race since the start of 2014, he has continued building his freelance portfolio, working with international titles. As well as writing for RACER, his broadcast work includes television appearances on F1 TV and as a presenter and reporter on North America's live radio coverage on SiriusXM.
Read Chris Medland's articles
Baja-bred: How Ford Racing is making its production Raptors even tougher
Latest News
Comments
Comments are disabled until you accept Social Networking Cookies. Update cookie preferences
If the dialog doesn't appear, ad-blockers are often the cause; try disabling yours or see our Social Features Support.
