Why Gene Haas has delayed announcing Esteban Ocon as the team’s second driver for 2025

Follow us on Google Discover

There are a handful of seats left to be confirmed for the 2025 Formula 1 season but one announcement appears to be close.

Haas are one of the surprise packages on the grid this year after finishing bottom of the Constructors’ Championship last campaign.

Nico Hulkenberg has been sensational and comes into the Hungarian Grand Prix after securing back-to-back 6^th-place finishes.

His move to Sauber next year is already confirmed and he’ll be hoping Audi’s takeover of the team works out given he’s sacrificing a decent midfield car for a team that hasn’t scored a point this season.

Hulkenberg’s teammate Kevin Magnussen hasn’t been quite as impressive this year and while he’s picked up a handful of points, it’s already been announced that he’ll be losing his seat at the end of the campaign.

Haas have one driver secured for next year, with Oliver Bearman’s impressive FP1 performances earning him a race seat in 2025.

The team’s connections with Ferrari would have played a part in the deal with Bearman the most prominent driver in their academy.

A report from the German outlet Auto Motor und Sport has shared one reason why Bearman’s teammate hasn’t been announced yet.

Haas are expected to sign Esteban Ocon to join Bearman next year after he announced he would be leaving Alpine at the end of the current campaign.

However, Gene Haas is currently delaying an announcement on Esteban Ocon’s future for one key reason.

It could have something to do with Haas being the smallest team on the grid and the budget constraints that puts on them in negotiations.

READ MORE: Alpine driver Esteban Ocon’s life outside F1 from net worth to girlfriend

Gene Haas delaying announcement of Esteban Ocon as 2025 F1 driver

The report from AMuS suggests that Ocon is a ‘sure successor’ to Magnussen at Haas but that his signature is still missing from the final contract.

That’s because Gene Haas is attempting to try and reduce Ocon’s salary by delaying reaching a final agreement.

However, they go on to say that it’s unlikely that this tactic is going to ‘achieve its goal’.

The trouble with this year’s driver’s market is the lack of clarity when it comes to the rest of the seats on the grid.

Ocon could still be pursued by a couple of Haas’s rivals and that would throw a spanner in the works if he suddenly received a better offer from elsewhere.

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Haas F1 Team from team principal to Ferrari relationship

Esteban Ocon fitted for a race seat at one of Haas’s rivals

Haas do need to be a little bit careful if they plan on toying with Ocon too much in the driver’s market.

Ocon had a race seat fitting at Williams in the last few weeks after being linked with the Grove-based team.

There was previously talk of Ocon making a mid-season switch to Williams to replace Logan Sargeant.

The American’s form has improved in recent weeks but is set to miss out on a seat for 2025.

It would have allowed Alpine to promote Jack Doohan into Ocon’s position for the rest of the campaign to see if he’s a strong enough candidate for a permanent race seat next season.

However, the move appears to have fallen through and that will give Haas even more confidence that they’ll be signing Ocon for next year.