Esteban Ocon declared 'I deserve to be in F1' after his impressive Azerbaijan Grand Prix, with it set to be announced that he is being axed by Haas. Ocon confirmed in Baku this week that he is now a free agent for 2027 and has held talks with other teams as he explores his options.
The 30-year-old went on to finish eighth in Azerbaijan after starting P13. The French driver triumphantly declared post-race that he has earned his place on the grid for next season as he bids to find a seat elsewhere.
Ocon: 'We showed today that we don't give up'
Ocon told Sky Sports: "Yeah, I think we [Haas] deserve it. That's the least to say. There are many reasons that are tough at the moment, but we showed today that we don't give up and we keep pushing. We had the car underneath us to do that today. Yesterday we should have been in Q3. Today we showed that the car had a top 10 shot as well, and we managed to do it. So I'm really happy for everyone."
"I think it's very positive for the whole team to go into the next two races knowing that we have a car that performed that well. So I hope that we can keep that going. Yeah, it's satisfying."
"I know what I can do when I got a car that performs, you know? I've won in every category I've done in karting, in Formula Renault, in GP3, in F3, I've won races everywhere and in Formula One. So I can fight out there. I deserve to be here."
Hard-fought eighth in Baku
Ocon was metres away from finishing seventh before being pipped at the chequered flag by Racing Bulls driver Arvid Lindblad. He added: "It was a little bit chaotic with the yellow flag [after Valtteri Bottas' crash]. I judged a little bit on the too safe side not to gain any advantage."
"But he [Lindblad] was too fast in the straight line so I probably would have lost it anyway. It's only [eighth] but it was a hard-fought one. Definitely very happy with the car pace."
"We were struggling a little bit in the beginning, but we got more front end at the pit stop and that's what we needed. We were flying from there and as soon as there was a start – a safety car restart or whatever – we were always moving forward. So that's really good."
Camara expected to replace Ocon
It is expected that Brazilian F2 driver Rafael Camara will replace Ocon as the team-mate of Ollie Bearman next season. The 21-year-old inherited victory in the Baku Feature Race 2 after finishing P2. Alexander Dunne's five-second time penalty promoted Camara to first and the Invicta Racing driver leads the F2 Drivers' Championship by seven points over Nikola Tsolov.
Ocon, meanwhile, made it clear on Wednesday he has a lot more to contribute in F1. He added: "Everything that we're looking at is in F1. I'm 30 years old, raced 10 years in F1, but I've got a lot more to give to this sport."
"Having won one race and being a couple of times on the podium doesn't satisfy me. I've raced almost 200 races, which is a lot, but I'm not happy with what I've done and what I've achieved so far."
"When I see some of my colleagues that I've been racing with, they are all winning races, being on pole and that's where I want to be as well. I've got a lot more to give to this sport, I'm not looking at something else."
