Haas replaces Ocon with Hirakawa for rest of Mexico GP

Haas has replaced Esteban Ocon with reserve driver Ryo Hirakawa for the remainder of the Mexican Grand Prix weekend, putting Hirakawa in the car for final practice, qualifying and Sunday’s race. The team said the change was not related to illness but did not explain its reason. Hirakawa, 32, had driven Ocon’s car in Friday’s opening practice session at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. His promotion means he will make his Formula 1 race debut and partner Oliver Bearman for the rest of the weekend. Haas said it would make no further statement at this time. Ocon had taken part in Friday’s second practice, finishing 13th, according to the reported session results. The switch came without a public explanation from the team. RaceFans reported that Ocon had expressed dissatisfaction to his race engineer, Laura Mueller, over the team’s tyre-strategy choice in that session. The report did not establish that the disagreement prompted Haas’s decision. The change comes as Ocon is already set to leave Haas at the end of 2026. The team has announced that Ferrari junior Rafael Camara will take his place for the following season. In reporting on that longer-term decision, The Race said Haas...