Rafael Câmara will be one of the drivers evaluated by Haas next week amid the Formula 1 market decisions. The Brazilian will participate in a test with old cars in Portimão alongside Ryo Hirakawa and Leonardo Fornaroli.
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According to Motorsport.com, the three names appear among the candidates for the seat currently occupied by Esteban Ocon, whose stay for the next season is not yet guaranteed. Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu confirmed during the media day in the Netherlands that the activity will be used to observe the selected drivers.
“If we weren’t interested in hiring these drivers, we wouldn’t be doing this test,” Komatsu said. “Actually, we have several interested drivers. It’s very good that other people are really interested in us.”
The executive also highlighted that the interest in the team occurs even in a difficult sporting moment. “At the moment, we are not performing so well. We can’t fight for points, but I think it’s cool that other drivers can see our potential within the limitations we face and all the effort we are making to improve the team.”
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Komatsu added that Haas interprets this external interest as a positive sign. “We simply see it as a compliment, the fact that other drivers are interested in us.”
Câmara arrives at the test amid growing speculation about his future. Recently, Formula 1 official reporter Lawrence Barretto pointed to the Pernambuco native as the favorite to take the Haas seat. The Brazilian currently holds third place in Formula 2, with 145 points, 22 less than leader Nikola Tsolov.
The evaluation in Portimão, therefore, emerges as a concrete step in Haas’s process to analyze options before defining its lineup for the next season.
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