Esteban Ocon denied rumors about a possible departure from Haas and called the speculations about his future in Formula 1 that emerged in recent days after comments by Ralf Schumacher “complete nonsense.” The Frenchman stated that there is no internal crisis in the team and reinforced his good relationship with team principal Ayao Komatsu.
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The statements come after Schumacher’s comments on the Backstage Boxengasse podcast. The former German driver said that Ocon has not been able to keep up with Oliver Bearman’s performance and suggested that Haas might even look for a replacement before the end of the season.
“One thing is clear: Ocon is not good enough. At best, he is equal to Bearman, and most of the time, he is worse. I can’t imagine we will still see Ocon next year,” Schumacher said.
In an interview, Ocon rebutted the speculations and said that the stories recently spread are made up: “Honestly, complete nonsense, to be honest. It’s unbelievable. I mean, Ayao and I were just talking now. […] They said we had a huge fight in Miami. It’s complete rubbish,” he declared.
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The Frenchman emphasized that he remains fully focused on his work within Haas and assured that there is no internal problem: “I have a great relationship with him. It has always been like that. There is nothing of what people are saying happening. It’s not true at all,” he said. “I have a contract with the team. […] I feel good. I feel calm in the team. We have been doing a great job in the last races,” he added.
Speaking about the future, the driver highlighted that contract talks are normal during the season and again denied any tension behind the scenes at Haas. “At the moment, we are just focused on what we have to do and then we will see the future later. There is no emergency, no fight. Everything was made up,” he concluded.
Ocon is currently in 16th place in the drivers’ championship with only 1 point scored. Meanwhile, Oliver Bearman is 8th with 17 points.
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