Esteban Ocon secures future away from Alpine as next F1 2025 domino falls
Esteban Ocon has joined Haas, ensuring he stays on the F1 grid for 2025.
Esteban Ocon will be on the grid in 2025 having agreed a deal to join Haas and partner rookie Ollie Bearman.
It was announced in June that after four seasons with the team, Ocon was to leave Alpine at the end of this season and his next destination has now been revealed as Banbury.
Esteban Ocon joins Haas as F1 2025 grid takes shape
Ocon appeared to be one of few drivers whose future was not tied to Carlos Sainz’s and while the Spaniard has yet to make up his mind, Ocon can now sleep easy knowing he will be on the grid in 2025.
The 27-year-old has joined Haas on a multi-year deal, seeing him partner rookie Bearman in Ayao Komatsu’s new look team.
Ocon said: “I am thrilled to embark on this new chapter in my Formula 1 career and join MoneyGram Haas F1 Team from the start of the 2025 season.
“I’ll be joining a very ambitious racing team, whose spirit, work ethic, and undeniable upward trajectory has really impressed me.
“I’d like to thank Gene Haas and Ayao Komatsu for their trust and support, and for our honest and fruitful discussions these last few months. On a more personal note, I’m very happy to be working with Ayao again, as he’s been a part of my debut when I first stepped into a Formula 1 car during my Lotus Junior days more than ten years ago.
“MoneyGram Haas F1 Team has exciting plans and clear targets for the future, and I’m very much looking forward to working with everyone in Kannapolis, Banbury and Maranello, and being part of this great project.”
The Frenchman has signed a “multi-year contract starting with the 2025 FIA Formula 1 World Championship”, making him the first grand prix race winner to drive for the American outfit since its Formula 1 debut in 2016.
Haas boss Komatsu said: “I’m delighted we’ve secured Esteban Ocon’s services for MoneyGram Haas F1 Team. I’ve obviously been aware of his talents for a long time and our personal history dates back to Esteban’s maiden run in a Formula 1 car – I was his race engineer that day with Lotus.
“He displayed his talents back then coming off the back of strong performances in the junior categories – he’d just won the 2014 European Formula 3 Championship. Esteban’s gone on to become an established talent in Formula 1 and of course a grand prix winner.
“The experience he brings, not just from his own talent base but also from working for a manufacturer team, will be advantageous to us in our growth as an organization. It was vital we had a driver with experience in beside Oliver Bearman next year, but Esteban’s only 27 – he’s still young with a lot to prove as well.
“I think we have a hungry, dynamic driver pairing and I look forward to welcoming Esteban into MoneyGram Haas F1 Team for 2025.”
More on the 2025 driver market
F1 2025 driver line-up: Who is already confirmed for the 2025 grid?
Revealed: The seven drivers out of contract at the end of the F1 2024 season
Team owner Gene Haas added: “It was important to me that we have a driver with a known pedigree in Formula 1, and as a grand prix winner, Esteban undoubtedly fits that brief.
“Esteban’s proved himself in the teams he’s raced for as someone who’s continually in the mix and scoring points – it’s that continuity we’re keen to capitalize on as we look for increased performance gains on-track.”
The news confirms that Haas will be one of potentially only two teams to have a brand new line-up for 2025 with both Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen heading out the door. Hulkenberg could also be part of an all-new line-up at Sauber should the Swiss outfit choose to not extend wither Valtteri Bottas or Zhou Guanyu.
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