Esteban Ocon replaced by Haas for remainder of Mexico City GP

Haas has confirmed that Esteban Ocon will not participate in the remainder of the weekend at the Mexico Grand Prix.

The French driver will be replaced by Ryo Hirakawa for the duration of the event, starting from Free Practice 3 onwards.

This will mark the Japanese driver's debut in Formula 1, but Haas has not provided any reasoning behind the decision to replace Ocon. However, they have confirmed that it is not due to illness.

A statement from Haas regarding the situation reads:

“TGR Haas F1 Team reserve driver Ryō Hirakawa will replace Esteban Ocon for the remainder of the weekend’s Mexico City Grand Prix.

“Ryō participated in FP1 at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez on Friday, his third free practice outing of the season driving the VF-26, finishing 15th overall.

“The Japanese driver will partner teammate Ollie Bearman through final practice and qualifying on Saturday and Sunday’s 71-lap grand prix – marking Ryō's Formula 1 race debut.

“No further statements will be made at this time.”

Hirakawa participated in Free Practice 1 on Friday and ended the session in 15th place, before handing the car back over to Ocon for Free Practice 2, in which the French driver finished in 13th.

It has already been confirmed that Ocon will not remain with Haas for the 2027 Formula 1 season, so the news of his replacement for the remainder of the Mexico Grand Prix does not bode well for the final stretch of races for the 2026 season.

If Ocon does not see out the season with Haas, it would not be the first time he has been replaced before the end of the season, as he was replaced by Alpine for the final race of the 2024 season when he left the team before joining Haas in 2025.