Haas staff member once warned against hiring Esteban Ocon in Drive to Survive two years ago

Haas’s shock dropping of Esteban Ocon has rocked F1, with the driver having to release a statement denying rumours of violence in his disagreement with the team.

However, the Frenchman has courted controversy more than a few times in the past, having run-ins with a number of teammates and upsetting F1 bosses in the process.

Such was his reputation, one Haas staff member raised serious concerns on camera about Ocon’s hiring by the team for 2025 - their words gaining significance with recent events.

The reasons Haas staff member warned against hiring Esteban Ocon on Netflix: Drive to Survive

The F1 world was stunned on Saturday morning when Haas announced it was removing Esteban Ocon for the rest of this weekend’s Mexico City GP.

It looks unlikely the Frenchman will be back at all for the rest of the season, the abrupt and cold nature of the statement matching the decision.

"TGR Haas F1 Team reserve driver Ryo Hirakawa will replace Esteban Ocon for the remainder of this weekend's Mexico City Grand Prix,” it stated.

"Ryo participated in FP1 at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez on Friday, his third free practice outing of the season driving the VF-26, finishing 15th overall.

"The Japanese driver will partner team-mate Ollie Bearman through final practice and qualifying on Saturday and Sunday's 71-lap Grand Prix, marking Ryo's Formula 1 debut.

"No further statements will be made at this time."

However, it wouldn’t be the first time Ocon has been dropped prematurely before the end of the year.

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Esteban Ocon’s many run-ins with his F1 teammates

Following an extremely poor run of results in 2024, he was dropped and replaced by Jack Doohan at short notice for the season finale in 2024.

Before that, Ocon had already had a fractious relationship with then-Alpine teammate Pierre Gasly, with the pair famously being best friends as children before turning against one another.

The two crashed into one another in Monaco in 2024, with Ocon taking the blame from then-Alpine boss Bruno Famin.

“Esteban’s attack was completely out of context,” Famin said. “It was exactly what we didn’t want to see.”

Prior to that, Ocon had also come under criticism from his teammate before that, F1 legend Fernando Alonso.

“It's one more race, and then it's over finally,” Alonso said after they collided in Brazil in 2022.

"It was very close to the wall in Jeddah, close to the wall in Budapest, today in Turn 4, now here.”

Ocon had also had similar run-ins before that with Sergio Perez at Racing Point, the two coming together multiple times.

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Esteban Ocon’s reputation made Haas staff uneasy

All this contributed to unrest at Haas as an experienced teammate was sought for rookie Oliver Bearman in 2025.

When Esteban Ocon was chosen as that driver, some at the British team weren’t convinced - as caught on camera by the Netflix series Drive to Survive.

“Are you fully, 100% sure that Ocon is a good fit for us?,” one staff member asked.

However, team boss Ayao Komatsu was defiant.

“The main [thing] for me is his work ethic,” replied Komatsu. “You can see he can race. So, I’m pretty confident he was the best choice.”

Prior to 2025, Ocon had also been to visit Williams with a view to a move, but boss James Vowles had passed over him on the basis that Ocon was not “a team player”.

Now with Haas, the Frenchman has seen serious controversy at a third team in a row, after Alpine and Racing Point. It may mark his final chapter in F1.