Following the announcement of Oliver Bearman’s promotion to Formula 1 with Haas in 2025, another cockpit in the premier class has been filled for next year. However, the big driver domino is still a long way off. The reason for this is that Carlos Sainz has not yet made a decision about his future, as he will have to vacate his cockpit at Ferrari in favor of Lewis Hamilton at the end of the year.
This has an impact on almost the entire remaining driver market. In recent weeks, numerous drivers have said that the decision about their future would depend on Sainz’s decision. Two weeks ago in Barcelona, Kevin Magnussen, among others, said that Sainz was the “cork in the bottle”.
Ocon confident about future question: Things are going well for me
He does not want to say that Sainz’s decision will have an impact on his future. Esteban Ocon, however, may not know anything. The Frenchman is leaving the Renault factory team Alpine at the end of the season after five years and, like Sainz, is still looking for a cockpit. “What Carlos does has basically nothing to do with me,” insists Ocon. “We all manage our own things.”
Overall, the 27-year-old remains confident about his own future in the premier class: “Things are going well for me on that side at the moment. So I hope that I will be able to talk more about it in the next few races.” Recently, Ocon has been increasingly linked with the only remaining free cockpit at Haas, which is currently occupied by Magnussen.
Will the Alpine upward trend help Ocon?
Specifically, Ocon hopes for a decision before the summer break. The last race before this will take place on July 28th in Spa-Francorchamps. In the fight for the last free cockpits for 2025, Ocon is helped by the fact that Alpine has recently shown a clear upward trend after a catastrophic start to the season and has been able to score points in four races in a row.
Although Ocon is only 17th in the drivers’ championship with three points, while his teammate Pierre Gasly has already collected six points in 15th place, Ocon is still ahead in qualifying. Although Gasly has been able to beat Ocon here more often recently, Ocon has won the team-internal duel seven times in eleven race weekends. In the sprint qualifying sessions, Ocon also placed ahead of his compatriot twice in three attempts.
However, Ocon has had a negative reputation for not being a team player, and not just since his collision with Gasly in Monaco. Last weekend in Spielberg, the two Alpine drivers fought each other again, with Gasly once again complaining about his teammate.
If Ocon does indeed get the second seat at Haas, that would probably mean the end of Kevin Magnussen’s career in Formula 1. However, the Dane again expressed the appeal of a future outside the Formula 1 paddock on Thursday in Silverstone – and, unlike Ocon, saw the decision about his cockpit for 2025 as still influenced by Sainz. You can read what Magnussen had to say about his current status on the driver market and how he assessed Oliver Bearman’s rise to Formula 1 here: