Esteban Ocon’s future has been a surprise topic of discussion since Alpine announced his departure. Rumors linked the Frenchman with Williams and Haas, with a stronger possibility of the latter. Now, Julien Febreau from the French broadcaster Canal+ has confirmed that Haas will announce Ocon‘s signing before the Belgian GP weekend.
According to motorinside.com, Febreau stated ahead of the Hungarian GP weekend, “We are not worried about Esteban Ocon, it will be a matter of formalization and it will be done at the beginning of next week and in Spa we will have plenty of questions to ask him”.
Besides Febreau, even Sky Sports F1’s Craig Slater reported that Ocon will most likely replace Magnussen at Haas, after the Dane’s exit became official in Budapest. This means that the American outfit will have a brand-new driver lineup for the 2025 season with Nico Hulkenberg leaving them too.
Although, Haas have got their wish to sign a potent young prodigy in Hulkenberg’s place – Oliver Bearman.
The Ferrari Academy driver had been linked with Haas ever since his unexpected F1 debut with Ferrari in Saudi Arabia. They finally announced signing Bearman for the 2025 season at the Austrian GP weekend.
Heading into the summer break after Belgium, Haas may secure its driver lineup with Ocon’s confirmation. About his Williams links, Team Principal James Vowles has already clarified why they could not come to an arrangement.
Why Williams have reportedly rejected Ocon?
Williams had called Ocon for a seat fit check and his height of 6 ft 1 inches proved to be a problem for them. Team boss Vowles stated that the Frenchman’s height and dimensions would make it difficult for them to fit him in their car’s cockpit.
While their current driver Alex Albon is also tall like Ocon, the latter’s “certain dimensions” differ, said Vowles. This is not an uncommon thing in F1 as taller drivers often face issues while sitting in the car. That is why, a seat fit and making the car’s cockpit as per the driver’s liking is quite important.
Naturally, any team would want to test these aspects before signing a new driver, especially if they don’t have the budget to make a structural overhaul to their car for the new driver. Williams certainly fall into this category and probably may have rejected Ocon for this reason.
