Ocon shrugs off exit rumours: "People can say whatever the f*** they want"

As GPblog previously reported, Oliver Bearman is set to become the first driver the Haas F1 team will sign for the upcoming Formula 1 season. The return of his teammate, Esteban Ocon, is far less certain, although it has not been explicitly stated that the Frenchman would leave either.

This website also understood that due to its ties with Toyota, Haas is considering signing a Japanese driver, for which Yuki Tsunoda would be the only logical candidate. Rafael Camara also sees a spot at Haas as appealing, GPblog understands, however, the Ferrari junior is not the first option. Moreover, McLaren's Leonardo Fornaroli also completed a TPC with the American team at Jerez last week.

Speaking to GPblog, among others, at the Austrian Grand Prix, the Frenchman explained that he is not too bothered about the noise about his future. "I mean, the team trusts me, Ayao trusts me. I think Ayao has discussed in Canada already. I think I always discussed in Canada already many of these topics. I mean, I'm focused with the team to try and get the things that we have in control better.

When this website asks Ocon whether he is already thinking about next season, he added: "I mean we are into a race what, seven, eight?"

About the rumours, the Frenchman continued: "I need to focus on as a job. As a driver, the performance on track is what I need to be taking care of. The rest, it's something that goes with it. Obviously, we have bigger problems with the car at the moment than that. So this is what we need to sort out first. If you sort out the car issues and get more performance out of it, everything will go easier.

"I feel confident about everything. There will always be talks. When people look at the picture from Paris, but we're in Austria, and when you look deep inside and knowing why I don't have many points this year and all of these things, well, it gets more clear. So the real reasons, we know deep inside, the team and the people close around, so that's the most important. We know that we are doing the right work. Now it just needs to pay off," he concluded.