Has Esteban Ocon been sacked by Haas? The astonishing list of his predecessors

The US-based Haas team is remaining tight-lipped about why French Grand Prix winner Esteban Ocon (30) has been abruptly replaced here in Mexico by Japanese reserve driver Ryo Hirakawa (32).

However, there are growing indications that Ocon has not merely been benched, but sacked. We would like to emphasise that, in the absence of a statement from Haas, this must currently be treated as speculation.

A look back over the past 35 years shows that it is neither unusual nor rare for drivers to suddenly lose their seats. This happens for a wide variety of reasons. Here is a list, which is by no means exhaustive.

2025: Jack Doohan (AUS), sacked by Alpine during the current season following various accidents and poor performances.

2024: Logan Seargant (USA), replaced at Williams following too many crashes and poor performances.

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2024: Daniel Ricciardo (AUS), replaced at Racing Bulls due to disappointing performances.

2023: Nyck de Vries (NL), replaced at Racing Bulls – then known as AlphaTauri – by the aforementioned Daniel Ricciardo, due to the Dutchman’s poor driving.

2022: Nikita Mazepin (RU), replaced by Haas due to geopolitical constraints during winter testing.

2016/2017: Daniil Kvyat (RU), demoted or replaced at Red Bull Racing and Toro Rosso (now Racing Bulls).

2017: Jolyon Palmer (GB), replaced at Renault by Carlos Sainz due to poor performance.

2016: Rio Haryanto (RI), lost his seat at Manor because the money ran out. He was often in over his depth and was given the unflattering nickname ‘Blindonesian’.

2015: Kevin Magnussen (DK), demoted from lead driver to reserve driver after just one season at McLaren; parted ways with the team a year later.

2011: Nick Heidfeld (D), replaced by Bruno Senna at Renault midway through the season.

2009: Sébastien Bourdais (F), sacked by Toro Rosso (now Racing Bulls) during the season due to poor performance.

2009: Nelson Piquet Jr. (BR), sacked by Renault in the wake of the 2008 Singapore crash scandal.

2006: Yuji Ide (J), replaced at Super Aguri – following numerous accidents and the withdrawal of his Super Licence by the FIA.

2006: Juan-Pablo Montoya (COL), parted ways with McLaren following a collision with his team-mate Kimi Räikkönen at the US Grand Prix.

2006: Jacques Villeneuve (CDN), replaced during the current season by reserve driver Robert Kubica.

2001: Heinz-Harald Frentzen (GER), dropped by Eddie Jordan for unclear reasons.

1996: Damon Hill (GB), sacked by Williams – whilst still World Champion, mind you – due to differences over salary and contract length.

1992: Nigel Mansell (GB), shown the door by Williams – whilst still World Champion, mind you – because they could not agree on the contract details.

1991: Alain Prost (F) compared his Ferrari racing car to a lorry, whereupon he was sacked without notice by the Italians.