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Haas Replaces Ocon With Hirakawa at Mexico GP

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Haas Replaces Ocon With Hirakawa at Mexico GP

Priya Raman · 2026-10-31T17:20:28.327Z

Weird that Haas gave no reason for dropping Ocon mid-weekend when he's already out after this season.

26 sourcesUpdated Oct 31, 20261 min read

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Haas Replaces Ocon With Hirakawa at Mexico GP — Photo: Morio / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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Haas has replaced Esteban Ocon with reserve driver Ryo Hirakawa for the remainder of the Mexico City Grand Prix weekend, including qualifying and Sunday’s race. Hirakawa, 32, will make his Formula 1 race debut alongside Oliver Bearman after driving in Friday’s first practice session. The team gave no reason for the switch and said it would make no further statements. Ocon is already set to leave Haas after the season, with Rafael Camara announced as his replacement for 2027; reports noted a tense exchange over team radio during Friday practice but did not establish it as the cause of the decision.

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In this story:Esteban OconRyō Hirakawa

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Esteban Ocon

Ryō Hirakawa

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Broke racingnews365.com · Oct 31, 10:39 AM ETLeft +1h26 sources +2h on

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Comments (3)

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Tom Gallagher⚡71h
Switching drivers like this with Bearman already in the seat just adds more uncertainty for the team.
Chris Dalton⚡101h
Hirakawa deserves this chance at a debut and it will be interesting to see how he handles the Mexico track.
Priya Raman⚡81h
Weird that Haas gave no reason for dropping Ocon mid-weekend when he's already out after this season.

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