Haas boss Ayao Komatsu blasts “fake” Ocon exit claims in explosive tirade

The 50-year-old and the French driver had found themselves in the crosshairs of speculation after a report from a Brazilian journalist hinted the pair were involved in a bust-up last time out at the Miami Grand Prix. The report further suggested Ocon appeared poised to be axed from the Haas outfit, with Komatsu considering a flurry of alternatives to replace the 29-year-old, even as early as the middle of the current campaign.

However, responding to these claims, Komatsu, who was visibly displeased, had some colourful words for the swirling reports and the media that propagated them. Speaking to GPblog during Canadian Grand Prix media day, the Japanese motorsport chief expressed his frustration with where the news had emanated from, describing it as lacking credibility and false, using several expletives.

“I honestly don’t know where that story came from. No idea. So I don’t know if this Brazilian journalist was quoted, right? I have no idea. No foundation whatsoever. Absolute bulls**t. So if somebody wants to write that kind of bullshit, feel free. But f**king hell, is that journalism? I have no idea. It’s terrible. What are they trying to achieve? It’s crazy. No foundation whatsoever. I don’t know, have any of you heard me saying anything like that? Yes or no? Right, it’s incredible. I spoke to him this morning, but for me there’s nothing to defend from our side whatsoever,” he explained.

Komatsu, who was anything but pleased with the reports circulating, continued by stressing he and Ocon never had such a rift during the Miami Grand Prix as reported, again labelling the claims in strong terms.

“It’s incredible that part of it says apparently I had some issue with Esteban in Miami. When did that come through? I didn’t even have a single argument with Esteban. It is just amazing how completely this bulls**t gets made up. And then, because nobody checks the source, everybody just lies on top of it. How is that journalism? It’s just f**king bulls**t gossip. How many problems does a story like that cause? It’s a complete waste of time,” he added.

The Haas F1 team boss noted how such claims could unsettle both the driver and his management team, before explaining how he ensured the impact was tempered during his conversation with the former Alpine driver.

Hitting out at the media outlets propagating the news, Komatsu further expressed his displeasure, noting that it had zero foundation.

Komatsu concluded by stressing the need for journalists to carry out proper due diligence before publishing such sensitive stories.

“I don’t know, if you write some story, you check your source, don’t you? Seriously, because honestly when I was a kid, I wanted to be a journalist. I wanted to be an investigative journalist. So when I read things like this, it’s like f**king hell. Are you not embarrassed about what you’re writing? And then by writing bulls**t like this with no foundation, you lose credibility completely. Any media that runs that kind of bullshit story loses credibility, in my mind anyway. It’s not even like twisting my words. There are zero facts. Nothing to do with what I said, because I didn’t say anything. It’s incredible. Then again we’re wasting time, right? Like how many of you, 10 of you, are listening to this story which has got no foundation? How is that productive to anyone?” he concluded.

Earlier, Ocon pulled no punches in his response to reports in the media at the Canadian Grand Prix, after talk of his possible exit from Formula 1 emerged days before the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve race.

The rumour, which had not escaped Ocon’s attention, saw him express his discontent in strong and colourful terms. Speaking with GPblog among other media at the Canadian Grand Prix, the Frenchman firmly dismissed the speculation surrounding his future, describing the reports as completely fabricated and accusing sections of the media of spreading nonsense.

The origin of the report that fuelled the speculation has since been linked to Brazilian journalist Julianne Cerasoli. However, she later issued a clarification on her X account, pushing back against how her comments were interpreted.

In a post addressing the reports attributed to her, Cerasoli wrote: “To clarify any misguided translation, I was talking about Rafa Camara's situation at Haas in 2027 and that Komatsu has already publicly called out Ocon. I didn't hear absolutely ANYTHING about any fight in Miami, nor did I comment on anything regarding that matter.”