Ocon Under Pressure as Haas Nears 2027 Call

Esteban Ocon is under growing pressure at Haas as the team moves toward a summer decision on its 2027 Formula 1 line-up, with the Frenchman having scored just one point in the first five races of 2026 while Oliver Bearman has opened a 17-point advantage.

Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu said the team expects to make its decision "around now time, like May, June, July," and made clear that the process is already active. "I think everybody’s looking at next year’s drivers. It’s not just us, everyone," he said.

That timeline matters because Komatsu would not offer Ocon any public reassurance when asked whether he would keep both current drivers if he had to decide immediately. "I think a question like this is going to create some shit, right?," Komatsu said, before explaining that any direct answer would be pulled out of context. "I'm not going to answer that question."

The pressure has intensified after Canada. Ocon finished 14th, while Bearman took P10, leaving Bearman on 18 points for the season and Ocon on one. Bearman has effectively carried Haas to seventh in the constructors' standings, while Ocon's return has done little to strengthen his case.

The problem for Ocon is that this is not a short-term dip. Since the pair became team-mates in 2025, Bearman has had the edge despite being the less experienced driver. He scored 41 points last season to finish 13th in the championship, while Ocon took 38 points and ended the year 15th. Instead of becoming the benchmark for Bearman, Ocon has spent much of his Haas spell trailing him.

That has left Haas trying to balance its firm public defense of Ocon against increasingly awkward results. During the Canadian Grand Prix weekend, Komatsu strongly rejected reports of a breakdown in his relationship with the driver. "I honestly don't know where the story came from, no idea. No foundation whatsoever, absolute bull****," Komatsu said in Montreal. He added that the supposed tension dated back to Miami, but said: "I didn't even have a single argument with Esteban in Miami."

Ocon pointed to car trouble after his difficult race in Canada. Speaking after the grand prix, Esteban Ocon said Haas had "a problem with the car" and described a race dominated by front locking. "Not one lap where I didn't manage to not lock, basically, the front tyre," he said. He added that Haas had introduced an update in qualifying and completed only two laps with it before the race, leaving the team to "try and fix it for Monaco and come back there better."

Outside the team, the scrutiny is sharper. Former Haas Formula 1 team principal Guenther Steiner said on The Red Flags Podcast after Ocon's race in Canada that he does not expect the driver to keep the seat unless his form changes quickly. "I think he’s gone by the end of the year. He’s not back next year," Steiner said. Pressed on whether Ocon could still save himself at Haas, he added: "If he doesn't change something drastically, he will not be there next year."

With Haas now in the window Komatsu identified for making its choice, Ocon's weak start to 2026 and his continued deficit to Bearman have made him the driver most exposed by whatever comes next.