Esteban Ocon will race for Haas in Formula One from 2025 after signing a multi-year deal with the American team.
Haas announced on Thursday ahead of this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix that Ocon, 27, would complete its line-up for next year alongside British rookie Oliver Bearman.
What led Ocon to Haas?
Ocon was always going to be part of what is proving to be a very fluid F1 driver market for 2025, offering race-winning experience to any interested teams after his shock victory for Alpine at the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix.
The Frenchman will become the first grand prix winner to race for Haas, and the move sees him reunite with Ayao Komatsu, Haas’s team principal.
A fresh start for Ocon
The move will serve as a new beginning to Ocon, whose final season with Alpine has proven to be a frustrating one, with the team’s lack of performance and tension with teammate Pierre Gasly.
Ocon said in a statement that he and Haas had enjoyed “honest and fruitful discussions these last few months” about the future.
What comes next?
The experience he brings, not just from his own talent base but also from working for a manufacturer team, will be advantageous to Haas in its growth as an organization, said Komatsu.
Haas will run an all-new F1 line-up for 2025 as Ocon and Bearman replace Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen, both of whom were already confirmed to be leaving the team.
Ocon will join a Haas team currently enjoying an upswing in performance under Komatsu, lying seventh in the constructors standings, and having already scored more than double its points tally from the entirety of last year.
And with this move, Ocon ends his long-standing relationship with the Enstone-based team, known previously as Renault and Lotus, which began more than 10 years ago.