‘Well-placed’ Mercedes sources say £92k-a-week F1 driver is about to announce his next move

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One of the seats on the 2025 F1 grid may be officially filled before the Hungarian Grand Prix this weekend, according to a report. As it stands, there are six seats still available for next year.

That could become seven if Red Bull decide to axe Sergio Perez. The Mexican only signed a new deal last month but that contract can be broken if he doesn’t improve his dismal form.

The most significant known vacancy is at Mercedes, though. Toto Wolff and co. still need to decide on their replacement for Lewis Hamilton, with Kimi Antonelli and Carlos Sainz the main contenders.

The rest of the available drives are in the midfield, although some races are more open than others. At RB, for instance, Liam Lawson, Isack Hadjar and Ayumu Iwasa will all be eyeing Daniel Ricciardo’s seat as members of the Red Bull driver academy.

Haas have announced that Oliver Bearman will replace the Sauber-bound Nico Hulkenberg, but they’ve yet to name his teammate. Kevin Magnussen is out of contract at the end of the year.

Likewise, Sauber and Alpine are yet to confirm who will partner Hulkenberg and Pierre Gasly respectively. And down at Williams, Valtteri Bottas is the favourite to take Logan Sargeant’s seat.

Esteban Ocon move to Haas is ‘imminent’

As part of a Q&A for BBC Sport, Andrew Benson was asked whether there would be any more driver moves before the summer break. He expects Haas to announce the arrival of Esteban Ocon in the immediate future, potentially before the Hungarian Grand Prix.

The Frenchman has already signed his contract, though the length of the deal is unknown at this stage. Mercedes have continued to manage the £92k-a-week driver (Spotrac) since his move to Alpine in 2010, and ‘well-placed’ figures at the team have confirmed his next move.

Benson wrote: “Esteban Ocon has signed to join Haas next season, BBC Sport has been told, and this is expected to be announced imminently, quite possibly in the run-up to this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix. This comes from well-placed sources close to Haas and Mercedes, who manage the Frenchman.”

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur told Haas to bring in a teammate who could help Bearman, and that’s exactly the kind of dynamic Ayao Komatsu will envisage. Ocon has competed in 145 Grands Prix to date, winning in Hungary in 2021.

His pre-existing relationship with the team principal may come in handy. Komatsu worked alongside Ocon at Lotus back when the latter was a test driver.

Ocon dismisses ‘complete nonsense’ about Alpine meetings

Ocon will have to disprove the notion that he’s not a ‘team player’ at Haas. The team will only maximise their potential if he works effectively with the inexperienced Bearman.

His relationship with Alpine has come to an end after he collided with Gasly at the start of the Monaco GP. The team instructed him to hold station on lap one but he went for an aggressive move that took him out of the race.

While this hasn’t been directly cited as a reason for his departure, there seems to be tension within the team. Ocon audibly expressed his frustration to an Alpine engineer in the pitlane after a disappointing qualifying at Silverstone last time out.

With Gasly committed, some may suspect a natural degree of favouritism. But claims that Ocon will be excluded from team meetings ahead of his Haas move have been called ‘complete nonsense’.