During the Mexico City Grand Prix weekend, Haas made major headlines after they dismissed F1 veteran Esteban Ocon for the remainder of the weekend on Saturday. This meant that they had to replace the driver of his car and luckily, the perfect candidate was already at the track.
Ryo Hirakawa had driven in FP1 as part of Formula 1's mandatory rookie FP1 programme and had given the team enough faith in his ability to drive the F1 car for the main event as Ocon's replacement. This faith turned out to be correctly placed as the Japanese driver not only drove a superb race without incidents, he also made some overtakes and (following a few post-race penalties) managed to finish P10, scoring a point on debut.
The Rule of Four Can Make Things Difficult for Haas
There is no doubt that Hirakawa did a great job in Mexico, but the team won't be able to have him race at the São Paulo Grand Prix at Interlagos as he has to be in Monza to compete in the World Endurance Championship season finale where he can win the series. This leaves Haas a driver short this weekend as the consensus in the paddock is that Esteban Ocon will not be back in the car for the rest of the season.
With the Frenchman out and Hirakawa unavailable that leaves a few options in reserve driver Jack Doohan and Rafael Camara, who recently signed a contract to race for the team in 2027 stepping up from F2.
This would usually be a simple choice, however Section B of the FIA Sporting Regulations (Driver Changes) outlines a very specific rule for teams competing in Formula 1 that will become very relevant for Haas this weekend:
"B1.7.1 During a Championship each Competitor will be permitted to use a maximum of four (4) drivers in Races, and any new driver may score points in the Championship.
- Provided any change proposed after the end of initial scrutineering receives the consent of the stewards, a change of driver may be made at each Competition where a sprint session is not scheduled, at any time before the start of the qualifying session. "
With Oliver Bearman, Esteban Ocon and now Ryo Hirakawa competing in Grand Prix for the American outfit in 2026, that leaves just one new entry allowed for the final four rounds of the season and they will have to make that choice before Qualifying on Saturday afternoon at the latest.
Who Will Get a Chance Next at Haas?
Before the São Paulo Grand Prix, Haas had confirmed Rafael Camara will be making his debut for Haas as he will drive FP1 in Brazil. He seems like the perfect candidate to close out the season for Haas as he will get some practice in before next year when he gets to drive the car for his debut season in Formula 1. This does come with a small asterisk next to it though.
Camara currently has a narrow lead in the Formula 2 championship over rival Nikola Tsolov. The final two rounds of that championship are set to take place in Qatar and Abu Dhabi, F1's final two rounds as well. Should Ryo Hirakawa be unavailable for either of those weekends then Haas are left with two cars, but not enough drivers to race both of them as they would have already hit the limit of four drivers in the 2026 season.
