Haas F1 driver line-up is set for 2025.
The team announced on Thursday that Esteban Ocon will drive alongside Ollie Bearman next season. Ocon’s arrival is not a huge surprise. He had been rumoured to take the other Haas seat in recent weeks after it was announced earlier this season that he would not be returning to Alpine.
I am very proud to announce that I will be joining @HaasF1Team in 2025 through a multiannual agreement.
I am delighted to be embarking on this new chapter of my F1 career and joining an ambitious racing team whose spirit, work ethic and undeniable upward trajectory have truly impressed me. I would like to thank… photo.twitter.com/8ZrYV6Jdz1
— Esteban Ocon (@OconEsteban) July 25, 2024
Ocon is the first Grand Prix winner to drive for Haas since the team entered F1 in 2016. Ocon won the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix after starting eighth when a first-lap crash eliminated four drivers who started ahead of him.
The former Mercedes reserve driver has contested 146 F1 races prior to the Belgian Grand Prix, with three podium finishes and an average finish of 11th. Ocon finished second in Bahrain in 2020 and third a season ago in Monaco.
However, the 2024 season has been a disaster for Alpine. Ocon has scored just three points and is 18th in the standings. He is only ahead of three full-time drivers.
His teammate Pierre Gasly, meanwhile, is 15th and has six points. Alpine is eighth in the constructors’ standings and 18 points behind Haas.
Nico Hulkenberg has scored 22 of Haas’ 27 points this season before joining Sauber in 2025. Sauber has not scored a single point this season but is working towards the 2026 season when it will become an Audi factory team. The team’s other driver, Kevin Magnussen, has scored two more points than Ocon this year.