Esteban Ocon said something important in a team radio message during the Mexico GP that wasn’t aired, just before Haas replaced him.
Esteban Ocon had a tense moment on the radio with Haas race engineer Laura Muller during Friday’s practice for the Mexico City Grand Prix—just a day before the American team replaced him. Japanese driver Ryo Hirakawa, who took part in the first practice session, will step in for Ocon from FP3 onwards and race for the rest of the weekend. Haas hasn’t shared an official reason for this change, but it’s known that Ocon isn’t sick.
It’s still unclear if Ocon’s time in Formula 1 is over. Haas already announced he won’t be driving for them in 2027, as Ferrari junior Rafael Camara is set to take his seat. If this isn’t just a one-off, the clash with the team during practice might have been a factor in his sudden replacement.
In the second practice session in Mexico City, Ocon and his engineer disagreed over tire choices. Muller told him he’d run on medium tires for his long stint, but Ocon wanted soft tires instead, saying they had agreed on that earlier.
Muller said over the radio, “We’ve swapped the high tire run to medium, because Ollie [Bearman]’s performance isn’t right.” Ocon asked, “I’m still doing soft, right?” She replied, “No, we’re still doing medium.” Ocon answered, “No, no. I want to do soft… don’t do that to me, come on.”
His last comment as his car was being wheeled back in was the most revealing: “Yeah, it is my turn this weekend, so come on.”
Since Bearman is likely to stay with Haas in 2027—though the team hasn’t officially confirmed who will join Camara—it makes sense they might prioritize him over Ocon in the last races. At the very least, there was definitely some miscommunication.
While there’s no sign yet that the radio disagreement led to Haas’ decision, it does show there were clear tensions between Ocon and the team just hours before he was pulled from the weekend.
In their statement about the change, Haas said they wouldn’t say more about it, even though they didn’t explain why.
They said: “TGR Haas F1 Team reserve driver Ryo Hirakawa will replace Esteban Ocon for the rest of the Mexico City Grand Prix weekend. Ryo took part in FP1 on Friday, his third free practice session this season driving the VF-26. He will join teammate Ollie Bearman for final practice, qualifying on Saturday, and Sunday’s 71-lap race, marking Ryo’s Formula 1 race debut. No further statements will be made at this time.”