Ocon lashes out at F1 future rumours: ‘Complete bull***t, almost like bullying’

Speaking recently on the Backstage Boxengasse podcast, former Formula 1 driver Ralf Schumacher cast serious doubt over Ocon’s future on the grid, claiming the Frenchman has failed to impress enough alongside Bearman during the current season. According to Schumacher, Ocon has too often struggled to match his younger teammate’s performances, making it difficult to justify keeping him beyond the near future.

The German believes the situation has already become critical for the Haas driver, to the point where he expects Ocon to lose his seat either at the end of the current campaign or potentially even earlier if the American team decides to act before 2026. Schumacher also suggested Haas could already be evaluating replacement options behind the scenes should the disappointing trend continue over the coming races.

Speaking with GPblog among other media, the Frenchman firmly dismissed the rumours surrounding his future, describing the recent reports as completely fabricated and accusing sections of the media of spreading nonsense.

Shifting the focus to the future and the possibility of remaining with the team next season as well, Ocon insisted there is currently no tension or internal issue within Haas, dismissing suggestions of disputes as entirely fabricated.

Asked whether stories like these can still become a source of distraction even for an experienced driver like himself, Ocon finally added: “At the end of the day, I try not to pay attention to that too much, but that became so big for no reason that I had to get a bit involved into it. We had to have a look and understand where that could have come from. But as soon as we talked to the real people that are involved with the story, it's quite clear that it's complete bullsh*t, so you are obviously much more fine when the story is very clear inside.”