Who are the favourites for the Haas seats in 2027?

Heading into the Azerbaijan Grand Prix weekend, Esteban Ocon identified himself as a “free agent” for the 2027 season, confirming that he’s yet to receive an offer of a contract extension at Haas. While his team mate Ollie Bearman hasn’t officially been announced as one of their drivers either, he seemed far more confident of keeping his seat – so who’s most likely to link up with the Briton next year?

Esteban Ocon

At 30 years old, Ocon has spent a third of his life competing in F1, which began in 2016 with stints at Manor and Force India before he took a sabbatical as a Mercedes reserve driver.

Speaking of the Silver Arrows, he became part of their junior team in 2015 and has maintained a link with the squad ever since – it was Team Principal Toto Wolff who gave him a shot in the top tier, and they still have a management relationship to an extent.

Ocon returned to a full-time seat with Renault – later rebranded as Alpine – and claimed both his maiden podium and victory at the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix and 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix respectively.

Going up against the likes of Fernando Alonso and Pierre Gasly, the Frenchman was a consistent points finisher and contributed to Alpine’s strong position in the midfield, clinching additional podiums in Monaco and Sao Paulo.

However, he was replaced by Jack Doohan for the 2024 season finale in Abu Dhabi and stated his departure was “not how I wanted things to end”, but was soon taken in by Haas on a multi-year deal beginning in 2025. That season, his rookie team mate Bearman marginally outscored him – a pattern which has continued into 2026, with Ocon on three points to the Briton’s 18.

For each Haas candidate, we asked F1 Correspondent & Presenter Lawrence Barretto for his take on how high their chances are.

Lawrence says: "While Ocon remains an option for Haas, sources suggest the Frenchman will part ways with the American squad when his deal expires at the end of this season. I understand his intention is to stay in Formula 1, but with opportunities on the 2027 grid limited, a reserve role is more likely."

Rafael Camara

Most of the grid’s 11 teams have announced unchanged driver line-ups for next season, so if we were to see a rookie make his debut, one of the most likely options would be Ferrari junior Rafael Camara.

The Brazilian’s childhood karting hobby soon transformed into a rapid rise through the ranks, and he stepped up to single-seaters as well as the Ferrari Driver Academy in 2022, joining current Haas driver Bearman in the Scuderia’s stable.

Top-three finishes in Formula 4 and Formula Regional followed before he progressed to Formula 3 for the 2025 season, winning the championship on his first attempt.

That naturally progressed to a seat in Formula 2 where Camara has continued to impress – he currently sits P2 in the standings, just seven points behind another exciting talent in Nikola Tsolov.

His obvious skill and raw pace have earned him tests for both Ferrari and Haas, giving him the opportunity to drive their challengers from previous seasons and show just what he could do in an F1 car.

Lawrence says: "Camara is the overwhelming favourite to get the nod to take over Ocon's seat next year. The Ferrari junior impressed Haas when he got behind the wheel of one of their cars in the Test of Previous Cars (TPC) running while Ferrari, who have been a close partner of Haas since the team entered the sport in 2016, rate him highly and are very keen to test his potential in Formula 1."

Leonardo Fornaroli

Camara isn’t the only one who has taken part in a Testing of Previous Cars (TPC) day, with fellow young driver Leonardo Fornaroli having completed his own run earlier this year. But unlike the Brazilian, he didn’t have any tangible links to F1 teams for the bulk of his career.

Fornaroli did enjoy a similar progression through karting, F4 and Formula Regional, but spent an additional season in F3 and improved from P11 to P1 in the series over his two stints.

After clinching the title in 2024, he graduated to F2 and took four wins en route to adding another championship to his resume. Within days of his triumph, McLaren had signed the Italian to their development programme and handed him the role of reserve driver for 2026.

That opened the door for plenty of testing, including appearances in the MCL60 and an FP1 session in Barcelona, where he placed an eye-catching fifth. He then got the chance to drive Haas’ VF-25 in the aforementioned TPC day, providing the team with valuable data to compare him with their other 2027 candidates.

Lawrence says: "As Haas mulled their options regarding their 2027 line-up, Italian Fornaroli emerged as a strong contender. It's understood McLaren, who have signed him up to their development programme, were up for loaning him to Haas should they want him and it's believed he performed very strongly when running old-spec Haas machinery. But he has since dropped behind Camara on the shortlist."

Yuki Tsunoda

Yuki Tsunoda is no stranger to the F1 grid, having featured on it full-time for five seasons between 2021 and 2025. That partly came as a result of several years of backing from Honda, with their Formula Dream Project supporting him in his move from karting to junior formulae in 2016.

He then signed for the Red Bull Junior Team in 2019 and finished third in his rookie F2 season, receiving a promotion to their Honda-powered sister outfit AlphaTauri (now named Racing Bulls) for the 2021 campaign.

The Japanese racer’s speed was clear from the outset, but mistakes in his early seasons sometimes overshadowed his potential. As time went on, he held his own against team mates including Gasly, Daniel Ricciardo and Liam Lawson, eventually culminating in a shot alongside Max Verstappen at Red Bull.

Unfortunately, his time at the top team saw him struggle to match the Dutchman – he achieved his best result of P5 in the 2025 Qatar Sprint and was replaced by Isack Hadjar at the end of the year, moving into a test and reserve role.

Staying in the Red Bull family paid off when he was called up to deputise Lawson this season, who in turn stepped in for an injured Hadjar for races in the Netherlands, Italy and Spain. Tsunoda proved that he hadn’t lost his driving ability as he scored at Monza, bringing him back into the limelight.

Lawrence says: "Tsunoda was part of the early conversation about drivers who Haas could potentially run in 2027 – and he put himself back in the shop window with a very assured super-sub performance across three races at Racing Bulls in place of the injured Hadjar. But the Honda-backed driver, who is one of the Red Bull family's reserves this year, doesn't appear to have enough traction to force himself into contention."

Ryo Hirakawa

Despite being neither an F2 graduate nor a former F1 driver, Ryo Hirakawa has been a consistent presence behind the scenes for several years.

He ascended through various series in his home country of Japan in his teenage years, becoming the youngest-ever champion in Japanese F3 before joining the Toyota Young Driver Program and moving to Super Formula and Super GT.

His sportscar experience was a fruitful one and led to him securing the 2017 Super GT title, but from 2022 onwards, Hirakawa switched his attention to the World Endurance Championship, sticking with Toyota throughout.

In his maiden season, he converted pole into victory at the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans alongside veteran racers Sebastien Buemi and Brendon Hartley, and went on to sign for McLaren as a reserve driver for 2024.

He’s participated in more FP1 sessions, when teams often choose to field rookies, than most – not just for McLaren, but also for Alpine and now Haas. His ties with Toyota aligned with the team's title partnership with Gazoo Racing, so he changed allegiance to the American outfit in 2025 and has regularly tested their cars over the last year or so.

Lawrence says: "Sources tell me Haas reserve and Toyota-backed driver Hirawaka has lapped very competitively every time he has got behind the wheel of a Haas, whether that's in a free practice session for young drivers on a Grand Prix weekend or a TPC test, but he is not expected to get the nod for promotion."

Jack Doohan

We briefly mentioned Doohan above as he took Ocon’s seat at Alpine for the final round of the 2024 season. He’s replaced the Frenchman before, so what’s to stop him doing it a second time?

The son of motorbike racing legend Mick Doohan, the Australian grew up around motorsport and began racing in a go-kart given to him by neighbour and family friend Michael Schumacher – not a bad way to start out.

That kickstarted a journey through F4 and F3, in which he settled for the runner-up position in his second full season. Doohan then improved to F2 and added more race wins to his tally, balancing the competition with a move from the Red Bull Junior Team to the Alpine Academy in 2022.

Like other junior drivers, he took part in test days and FP1 sessions to develop into a candidate for an F1 seat, which he was handed for a total of seven rounds before being replaced by Franco Colapinto.

His sudden demotion resulted in Doohan switching to Haas from the start of 2026, and he now acts as a reserve driver whilst taking on the European Le Mans Series.

Lawrence says: Doohan got himself a lifeline with Haas when he joined as a reserve driver for this year, having been let go by Alpine. The American team gave him some TPC running to evaluate him, but while he did a good job behind the wheel, he's not believed to be at the top of the shortlist.