Ocon seat officially under threat at Haas

Ayao Komatsu has confirmed for the first time that Esteban Ocon is one of five drivers fighting for a single Haas seat in 2027.

The confirmation comes just days after Haas completed a significant private TPC evaluation at Portimao, where Ryo Hirakawa, Leonardo Fornaroli and Rafael Camara were run in comparable programs as the team assesses alternatives to Ocon.

Jack Doohan, meanwhile, is due to complete his own Haas test at Jerez this month.

Writing for Japanese outlet as-web.jp, Komatsu made the situation unusually explicit.

"As has already been reported, five drivers, including our reserve driver, are competing for one seat for 2027," he revealed.

"The five drivers are reserve drivers Ryo Hirakawa and Jack Doohan, Leonardo Fornaroli, Rafael Camara, and Esteban."

Komatsu said the decision will be driven primarily by speed.

"When it comes to what criteria we use to make our decisions, it’s primarily performance," he said.

He revealed that Hirakawa, Fornaroli and Oliver Bearman had already been separated by less than a tenth during an earlier Jerez test, before Haas arranged the more recent Portimao running for further comparison.

Komatsu also made clear he is comfortable promoting younger talent.

"There was a time when young drivers didn’t get many chances in F1, but that changed dramatically last year," he said.

"It’s still good to give young people a chance."