Let us be honest, I’m happy for Rafael Câmara, but my first thought was: Esteban, mate, this is rough. Haas has confirmed Rafa for 2027, and I’m excited to see him get his shot in Formula 1. At the same time, I’m sad for Ocon. Both things can be true. F1 manages to give us a fresh start and a painful goodbye in the same announcement.
I won’t pretend I’ve followed Rafa’s whole career or been shouting about him from the sofa since karting. I haven’t. But the case for this move is clear: he is 21, a Ferrari Academy driver, the reigning Formula 3 champion, and currently leads Formula 2 in his rookie season. He has two F2 weekends left and a seven-point lead over Nikola Tsolov. So there is still a title to finish before he starts learning how many buttons Haas can fit on an F1 steering wheel.
I think Haas have made a sensible bet. The Ferrari connection is already there, and the team has seen what can happen when it gives a young Ferrari Academy driver time. Ollie Bearman has grown into a proper F1 driver with Haas, but Rafa does not need to copy him. He needs to settle in, make the seat his own and show enough progress for the team to build around him. I’m not expecting miracles in his first races. Let him learn the car before we compare every lap to Bearman’s best qualifying.
And Ollie should remain Haas’s lead driver in 2027. He has earned that responsibility. He knows the team, has delivered the stronger results this season and is already the person Haas can use as its reference point. Maybe there is no official “number one” label in the contract, but the role is there: Bearman leads the garage, Rafa learns beside him, and both push the team forward. That sounds healthier than asking a rookie to arrive and become the entire development department.
Still, I can’t look at this announcement without feeling for Ocon. He is a Grand Prix winner with years of experience, and he has helped Haas find problems with the car. His season has not been good enough beside Bearman, and that is part of the decision; we should be honest about that. But a difficult year does not mean a driver has forgotten how to race. Ocon has shown what he can do before, and I hope Haas give him a proper send-off instead of the classic F1 goodbye: one nice quote, a team photo and everyone already looking at next year’s livery.
That is the strange feeling with this news: I’m pleased Haas are giving Rafa a chance, but I don’t want Ocon’s F1 story to end here. Rafa has earned the opportunity, Bearman has earned the lead role, and Esteban still has plenty to offer somewhere on the grid. Next year, I’ll be watching to see how Rafa handles the jump, how Bearman leads the team, and whether Ocon finds a way to stay in the sport.
Rafael, welcome to F1. I haven’t been following you for years, but you’ve got my attention now. I
’ll have my eyes on you.
aKi Malik
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