Marco Rossi · F1 Correspondent
What looked like a one-weekend break in Mexico City is now final: Esteban Ocon will not race for Haas again this season, and a 21-year-old Brazilian gets his chance earlier than planned.
Rafael Câmara will make his Formula 1 debut at the São Paulo Grand Prix this weekend, of all places at his home race at Interlagos. The Ferrari junior, who currently leads Formula 2 and is already under contract with Haas for 2027, takes over Esteban Ocon‘s car. Haas confirmed on Tuesday evening that the Frenchman will not return to a race seat with the team this year. Câmara will therefore line up alongside Oliver Bearman, who like him came through Ferrari’s young driver programme.
From the Mexico weekend to the final exit
The split had been looming in Mexico City. Ocon only drove in second practice on Friday because reserve driver Ryō Hirakawa had taken over the first session for the mandatory rookie outings. Over the radio there was a dispute with race engineer Laura Müller after the team switched a long run from the soft to the medium tyre because of the condition of Bearman’s tyres: “No, no, I wanted the soft, like, don’t do that to me. Come on.” On Saturday morning Haas announced that Hirakawa would replace Ocon for the rest of the weekend. The team gave no reason, only that it was not due to illness. Hirakawa seized the opportunity and, after penalties for other drivers, scored a point in tenth place on his Grand Prix debut.
Team principal Ayao Komatsu put the decision soberly on Tuesday: “We have now notified Esteban Ocon that he will not return to a race seat with TGR Haas F1 Team this season.” And: “Such decisions are never made lightly, as was the case in Mexico City.” The conversations between team and driver would remain an internal matter, and the decision was in the team’s best interests. French media had reported a confrontation between Ocon and Komatsu; Ocon himself spoke of a difference in viewpoints and denied that there had been any physical violence. For the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix winner, this ends a chapter whose conclusion had been settled since the end of September, only much sooner and much less gracefully than expected.
Câmara: A debut in front of his home crowd
That Haas did not have to look far for a replacement is down to Câmara’s CV. The 21-year-old from Recife has been part of the Ferrari Driver Academy since the end of 2021, won the Formula Regional European Championship with Prema in 2024 and Formula 3 with Trident in 2025, the first driver in the series to seal the title before the final round. In his first Formula 2 season he leads the championship for Invicta Racing, most recently seven points clear of Nikola Tsolov after his win in Baku. Haas had already signed him for 2027 as Ocon’s successor alongside Bearman.
A test in August, in which Câmara drove Haas’ previous-year car, also tipped the scales in favour of the early call-up. Komatsu referred to it explicitly: “Having excelled in his TPC outing in August, we know Rafa’s capabilities.” In the VF-26, Câmara will now complete his first Formula 1 laps in race conditions at Interlagos, of all places, a track whose elevation changes and Bico de Pato hairpin show little mercy to a learning curve. In front of his home crowd he faces a task that makes a debut easier and harder at the same time: the support from the grandstands is guaranteed, and so are the expectations.
Open questions for the final races
There is a simple reason why Hirakawa is not stepping in again: the World Endurance Championship holds its season finale at Monza on the same weekend, and the Japanese driver is part of Toyota’s regular line-up there. According to Haas, it was these existing WEC commitments that opened the door for Câmara. The team has not yet said who will partner Bearman in the last three races in Las Vegas, Qatar and Abu Dhabi after São Paulo.
For Câmara himself, that raises a question of his own, because the Formula 2 title has not yet been decided and the feeder series is due to finish its season on the support bill of the final Grands Prix. What role that plays in the line-up for the last races remains open. For his home race in Brazil the question does not arise yet: there, Câmara simply gets to be a Formula 1 driver. Ocon, meanwhile, who according to Autosport is being linked with a reserve role at Aston Martin for 2027, will follow the rest of the season from the outside.
