Haas launch strong Esteban Ocon defence despite wielding axe

Haas boss Ayao Komatsu has launched a strong defence of Esteban Ocon - despite deciding to drop the Frenchman from the team for 2027.

Ocon announced on Wednesday that he would be departing Haas at the end of the current season after a two-year stay with the team - and vowed that it would not signal the end of his grand prix career.

However, Ocon will not be on the 2027 grid in a full-time race seat as the only seats remaining are those at Haas, which has just dropped him, at Mercedes and Racing Bulls, the latter of which is already facing its own driver conundrum with three drivers fighting over two seats in incumbents Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad, with F2 title contender Nikola Tsolov hopeful of a promotion to F1.

A return for 2028 is possible, with Ocon declaring that he "deserves" to be on the grid when speaking to the media ahead of the Bahrain GP.

When his team boss was then questioned publicly for the first time since the announcement was made, Komatsu strongly defended Ocon. 

"When we look at the overall picture, I think for me, it was time to make a change, but in terms of his ultimate speed and the performance he can produce when everything lines up, there is no doubt," Komatsu told media, including RacingNews365.

"I don't want to get dragged into specifics, and all I am saying is that the speed is there and he has shown he can perform at the highest level. That's what I am focusing on in the next races.

"Because if I say certain things, I'm sure you pick up on particular bits and take it out of context and write whatever you want, so I am not letting that happen because our best interest is for the team to provide the best environment for Esteban for the rest of the season, and for Esteban to be absolutely 100% focused on every single race to perform. That is what is best for the team. 

"That is what is best for Esteban Ocon. He needs to show the world how fast he is, and as he showed in Baku, he is a great team player when we needed him to back off a little bit so that Oliver could have overtake mode because he was under pressure from [Arvid] Lindblad.

"He did it straight away, and he asked: 'Is that enough?' and I said: 'Yeah, that was good enough,' so he got to show the world his speed, and even though we just announced that he is leaving the team, he can be a team player.

"That's the best thing for Esteban Ocon, so I am not going to give you guys a chance to write anything other than that to distract him."

The article continues below. 

Haas defend Ocon

Speaking about his decision to chase Ocon after his departure from Alpine in 2024, Komatsu felt the Frenchman had brought the race-winning nouse the team required - being the only grand prix winner to drive for the team. 

"He brought the experience, and was the first driver signed who was a race winner," Komatsu said.

"He brought that experience, that dimension we didn't have as a team and then the combination of having Esteban with 10 years' experience and a race-winner, a proven-finisher with an exciting new talent in Oliver Bearman.

"He's not looking anymore like the rookie, and that was a very good combination, so I'm happy we signed Esteban a year-and-a-half ago, and we've had a good year-and-a-half. 

"Honestly, the focus is on the eight races to go and to finish on a high. 

"I think he deserves that, and the team deserves that, and I'm sure if we are focused on it without any other noise, we can achieve that."