Here is a massive twist for the weekend: Haas have confirmed that Ryo Hirakawa will take over from Esteban Ocon for the remainder of the Mexico City Grand Prix weekend. That means a complete driver swap right in the middle of a race weekend at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.
To give you the timeline, Hirakawa already stepped into the American outfit's VF-26 during Free Practice 1 on Friday, wrapping up that opening session in 15th overall. That marked his third free practice outing of the season. Ocon jumped back into the cockpit for the day's second practice hour, making Saturday morning's announcement from the team all the more startling.
A statement released by the team reads: “TGR Haas F1 Team reserve driver Ryo Hirakawa will replace Esteban Ocon for the remainder of the weekend’s Mexico City Grand Prix, Saturday 31 October – Sunday 1 November.”
Hirakawa (32), a two-time winner of the FIA World Endurance Championship in 2022 and 2023 alongside a 24 Hours of Le Mans victory in 2022 with Toyota GAZOO Racing, has served as a reserve driver for the squad since 2025. Now, the Japanese driver is heading straight into the deep end.
He will partner team mate Ollie Bearman through final practice and Qualifying on Saturday, leading up to Sunday's 71-lap Grand Prix. It will be Hirakawa’s Formula 1 race debut. The team concluded their announcement by noting that no further statements will be made at this time.
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