Jenson Button delivers stinging verdict on Esteban Ocon's F1 career following Haas bust up

Jenson Button reckons Esteban Ocon may have "possibly thrown away the rest of his career in F1" after Haas stood him down at the Mexico City Grand Prix.

Haas replaced Ocon with reserve driver Ryo Hirakawa before Saturday's final practice and still has not said why. As GPblog reported the move was a disciplinary measure. Ocon has since denied that any physical violence took place while outside the team, opinion has split into two clear camps.

Button reacted to Ocon's statement on Sky Sports F1. The former world champion started by pointing to the pressure a driver is under once his team has moved on. "It's always difficult for a driver when you are out and your team are looking at someone else," he said. He had little sympathy for how Ocon handled it, though, and added that the 22 drivers on the grid are among the best in the world.

His Sky colleague Ted Kravitz was even more pessimistic. On Ted's Notebook after qualifying, he said: "I'm afraid to say, this looks like it might be the end of Esteban Ocon's Formula 1 career, because I don't think they are going to want him back, especially after what happened. It looks like they are going to want Rafael Camara." Haas has already signed Camara, the Ferrari junior who leads Formula 2, to replace Ocon in 2027.

Panis took the opposite view. Auto Hebdo reports that he reacted on social media within hours of the news: "Firing Esteban Ocon, a talented, consistent driver and Grand Prix winner, is a real disgrace." He also questioned Haas's motives. "They're sacrificing sporting merit for political and commercial reasons," the former Ligier driver said, as quoted by Auto Hebdo. He did not say which interests he had in mind.

Karun Chandhok's analysis falls between the two camps following the row on Friday over tyres. Ocon was sent out on mediums in FP2 when he wanted softs. Speaking on Sky Sports F1, Chandhok said Ocon's position explained why that mattered so much to him. "If you look at the tyre choice itself, in a normal situation I don't think a driver would care as much but in the situation he is in, knowing he has been dropped for next year, he is fighting for a drive," he said.

Chandhok still thought Ocon had chosen the wrong fight. "I think you have to be smart picking your battles," he said. Later in the broadcast, as reported by F1 Oversteer, he went further. If he were running Haas, he said, he would be "doing everything possible now to extricate myself from the Ocon contract" so Camara could get started early.

When Haas confirmed in September that he would leave at the end of the season, Ocon insisted: "This is absolutely not the end of my Formula 1 career" and he has since been linked to a reserve role at Aston Martin.

The Silverstone team have yet to confirm a deal but currently have Jak Crawford and Stoffel Vandoorne on their books.