Esteban Ocon will join Haas on a multi-year contract from 2025 F1 season onwards.
Ocon was announced in June to be leaving Alpine after five seasons at Enstone, and has now secured his place on the grid with Haas following confirmation of Kevin Magnussen’s departure at the conclusion of the current season.
“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,” commented Ocon who is keen to help the team continue their progress.
“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.
Ocon also is excited to reunite with Haas Team Principal, Ayao Komatsu who he knew from his time as a junior at Lotus and is confident that the pair plus everyone else at Haas can achieve their targets.
“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.”
Komatsu added that he is “delighted” to welcome Ocon to Haas for next season, especially given their history together.
“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.”
Komatsu also feels that Ocon’s experiences at Alpine will benefit Haas as he continued: “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.”
Haas Team owner, Gene Haas felt that the team needed “… a driver with a known pedigree in Formula 1, and as a grand prix winner, Esteban undoubtedly fits that brief.”
Haas proceeded to add: “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.
“We have a blend of youth and experience in our future driver line-up and I’m excited to see the results.”
The move will see the 27 year-old stay on the grid for a ninth season, having debuted for Manor Racing midway through 2016 season before a two-season spell at Racing Point (formerly Force India until August 2018).
2019 saw Ocon spend the season on the sidelines as Mercedes’ Test and Reserve Driver, before he moved to Renault in 2020, which changed its name to Alpine in 2021 – during which he clinched his maiden F1 win at that season’s Hungarian Grand Prix.
Ocon will partner Bearman next season after the 19 year-old Brit was announced as Nico Hulkenberg’s replacement prior to the British GP, following the German’s decision to return to Sauber.
In his junior career, Ocon won consecutive titles as he became champion in 2014 F3 Europe, followed by 2015 GP3 Series.
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