Jack Doohan, son of Australian motorcycle legend Mick Doohan, who completed his test last week<\/a>.<\/p>\nYuki Tsunoda was also believed to have been in the frame earlier this year but has since appeared to have dropped out of contention.<\/p>\n
With Bearman on loan from Ferrari and all but certain to continue, focus has sharpened on Ocon\u2019s place at the team.<\/p>\n
Though he has rebuffed speculation about his future in recent months, Ocon all but confirmed in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix paddock that he was looking for work for 2027.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the moment I\u2019m definitely a free agent for next year,\u201d he said, per Racer. \u201cThere are things in discussion that are out of my control.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are certain topics that are out of my control, so I will keep pushing until the end of the year and see how it goes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Esteban Ocon vs. Oliver Bearman<\/p>\n
Qualifying head to head: Bearman leads 9-4<\/p>\n
Qualifying differential: Bearman ahead 0.4 places<\/p>\n
Qualifying time differential: Bearman faster by 0.221s<\/p>\n
Race head to head: Bearman leads 8-2<\/p>\n
Race differential: Bearman ahead 1.8 places<\/p>\n
Race time differential: Bearman ahead 17.3s<\/p>\n
Points: Bearman leads 18-3 (86-14 per cent)<\/p>\n
Though he said he was talking to other teams, he was noncommittal when asked whether there was still a chance he could continue with Haas next season.<\/p>\n
He was adamant, however, that he would seek a place in Formula 1 for next season.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything that we\u2019re looking at is in F1,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m 30 years old, raced 10 years in F1, but I\u2019ve got a lot more to give to this sport. Having won one race and being a couple of times on the podium doesn\u2019t satisfy me.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve raced almost 200 races, which is a lot, but I\u2019m not happy with what I\u2019ve done and what I\u2019ve achieved so far.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I see some of my colleagues that I\u2019ve been racing with, they are all winning races, being on pole and that\u2019s where I want to be as well. I\u2019ve got a lot more to give to this sport, I\u2019m not looking at something else.\u201d<\/p>\n
Can Piastri find Azerbaijan redemption? | 03:11<\/p>\n
OPTIONS SHRINK AS HADJAR INKS NEW DEAL<\/p>\n
But Ocon is desperately unlikely to find a seat on next year\u2019s grid, with all but two teams fully subscribed after Isack Hadjar re-signed with Red Bull Racing for 2027.<\/p>\n
Hadjar, who will return to competition this weekend after skipping the last three rounds with a fractured wrist, said he was looking forward to continuing his steep trajectory just two years into his Formula 1 career.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom the moment I signed, I set out to dedicate myself to the team, and with the support of Laurent [Mekies, team principal] and everyone in Milton Keynes, I\u2019ve been able to justify the faith they\u2019ve had in me.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m constantly looking to listen, learn and push myself further every single day, which only makes me more excited about what lies ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mekies said offering Hadjar a new deal was \u201can easy decision\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom the very beginning, Isack immersed himself in the team, spending every minute at the factory with his engineers to develop the car, always eager to learn and improve,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou could see from that first weekend in Melbourne that he handled the step up with remarkable composure and had earned his place in this seat.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe period since his injury has been a difficult one for Isack, but this extension is a testament to how much we believe in him, and we can\u2019t wait to see him back out on track.<\/p>\n
We still have a lot we want to achieve this season, but it\u2019s a great feeling to know that the drivers, engineers and everyone back at the factory are all heading in the same direction, committed and together.\u201d<\/p>\n
Though there are three teams other than Haas with seats still available next season, none is expected to have space for Ocon.<\/p>\n
Both Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad are out of contract at Racing Bulls.<\/p>\n
Though the team is tipped to keep both drivers in place, complicating the decision is Red Bull junior driver Nikola Tsolov, who is leading the Formula 2 championship by seven points with three rounds remaining. The Bulgarian has impressed this year and will be barred from entering the series again if he wins the title this year.<\/p>\n
Lawson has said to expect an announcement in \u201cthe next few races\u201d.<\/p>\n
2027 Aussie Grand Prix gets sprint race | 01:29<\/p>\n
Fernando Alonso is up for renewal at Aston Martin but is widely believed to be set to race for another season, though his possible retirement appears to be being used as leverage to push for further regulation changes in 2027.<\/p>\n
Audi has also yet to formally confirm its 2027 line-up, but both Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico H\u00fclkenberg will remain at the team next year.<\/p>\n
Despite contracts being in place, ESPN has reported that Cadillac and Valtteri Bottas could yet part ways at the end of the season but that, if so, it will be because the team is determined to shoehorn IndyCar winner Colton Herta into the seat, leaving Ocon\u2019s chances there uncertain.<\/p>\n
Ocon\u2019s best bet instead appears to be accepting a reserve role in the hope of finding a place in 2028.<\/p>\n
It wouldn\u2019t be the first time the Frenchman has been forced onto the sidelines.<\/p>\n
He was dumped from the Racing Point team \u2014 now known as Aston Martin \u2014 at the end of 2018 after the former Force India squad collapsed and was purchased by Lawrence Stroll.<\/p>\n
Stroll dumped the Frenchman in favour of his son, Lance Stroll, who has raced for the Silverstone, UK, team ever since.<\/p>\n
Ocon spent 2019 as a Mercedes reserve driver, having been backed by the team\u2019s junior driver program since 2015, and is still managed by the German brand despite having raced for rival manufacturers.<\/p>\n
Mercedes currently counts Frederik Vesti as its reserve driver, though the Dane has not raced in single-seaters since 2023 and has instead switched focus to sports car racing.<\/p>\n
Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2026 schedule (AEST)<\/p>\n
Thursday: FP1 at 6:30pm, FP2 at 10pm.<\/p>\n
Friday: FP3 at 6:30pm, qualifying at 10pm.<\/p>\n
Saturday: Race at 9pm.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Esteban Ocon has admitted he is a \u201cfree agent\u201d for 2027, all but confirming Haas will swing the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":903074,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[572],"tags":[64,63,806,805,803,804,85],"class_list":["post-903073","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-motosport","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-motor","tag-motor-sports","tag-motosport","tag-motosports","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/903073","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=903073"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/903073\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/903074"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=903073"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=903073"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=903073"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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