Haas reveal brutal reason behind Esteban Ocon axe

Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu has outlined why the American squad felt it "needed" to drop Esteban Ocon.

Ocon will not have his contract with the Kannapolis-based outfit and will leave at the end of the current F1 season.

The Frenchman does not have any confirmed plans for next year, but is determined to stay in the F1 paddock and is not entertaining racing in a different championship, even if that means a campaign on the sidelines.

Haas is yet to announce Ocon's replacement, but the choice is understood to have been trimmed down to a straight fight between Ferrari junior Rafael Camara, who leads the F2 championship, and Haas reserve and former Alpine driver Jack Doohan.

Oliver Bearman is expected to continue on the other side of the Haas garage, although that has not been formally announced at this stage.

Asked what the decision to let Ocon go came down to, Komatsu told Sky Sports F1: "When we're choosing a driver, it's about the overall performance of our package, and then everything comes into it.

"Of course, natural talent — that's something we cannot teach. As a driver, you are either quick or not quick.

"Esteban is very, very quick on his day. When the car is perfect, when he's happy with the car, he's very, very quick.

"But what we're looking for going forward is we just want the speed plus more consistency, and then also the feedback as well."

Komatsu: Ocon needs an environment he can 'flourish' in

Komatsu moved to defend Ocon, highlighting how strong he is when the car is in the right window and the conditions suit him.

However, he also pointed out that the one-time grand prix winner may thrive in a more established setting than the American team can offer.

"Esteban is very good; I don't want to take anything away from him," the Haas boss added. "What he's done, he contributed a lot to the team, and he's still the very fast race winner we signed, right?

"As a team, we are still on the journey, so we still have a lot of imperfections. Maybe in a better environment, a perfect environment, Esteban can completely flourish his talent.

"But with the team set up as we are, with some inconsistencies, issues, etc., it's really not playing to Esteban's strengths sometimes. So we needed to make some changes."