Haas reveals timeline for F1 2027 line-up decision amid Esteban Ocon rumours

Haas has outlined a timeline for when it expects to decide upon its driver line-up for the 2027 Formula 1 season.

Esteban Ocon and Ollie Bearman are among the drivers whose contracts are set to expire at the end of the season, with the 2027 driver market and silly season expected to be particularly volatile after a fairly stable winter heading into a new regulation set.

Bearman’s future is likely to be influenced by whatever happens at Ferrari, but with all signs pointing to Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc remaining at the Scuderia next season, the highly-rated Briton will probably stay put.

Question marks have been raised about Ocon’s future amid rumours of a relationship breakdown with his Haas team. However, the Frenchman rubbished such talk at the Canadian Grand Prix, describing the reports as “complete b*******”.

This stance was echoed by Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu in an extraordinary foul-mouthed rant.

When asked for a timeline on when Haas will make a decision regarding its driver pairing for 2027, Komatsu told media including Crash.net: “Around now time, like May, June, July,”

“I think everybody’s looking at next year’s drivers. It’s not just us, everyone.”

Komatsu was in no mood to entertain one particular line of questioning, though, when he was asked what he would do if he had to make a call on the spot.

“I think a question like this is going to create some s***, right?,” Komatsu fired back. “Because then people are going to take my word and say, ‘oh, Ayao said if you decide now, you're going to continue with Esteban, not continue with Esteban’.

“They take it completely out of context, so I'm not going to answer that question.”

Ocon has been largely outperformed by his more inexperienced team-mate since arriving at Haas at the beginning of 2025.

The signing of a grand prix winner was viewed as a major statement of intent from Haas, but Ocon’s switch from Alpine has so far been troubled.

Haas has all options available to it and should it end up having a seat to fill, it could promote former Alpine racer Jack Doohan, who is currently serving as reserve driver.

Yuki Tsunoda, who lost his Red Bull seat at the end of last season, has also been linked as a possible option for Haas amid its Japanese connections with Toyota.