Esteban Ocon hints at leaving Haas after speculation over his future with the team

[p][b]“At the moment I’m definitely a free agent for ‌next year,”[/b] [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ocon-esteban/nZKY1D4O/"]Ocon[/a] told reporters at the Baku street ‌circuit on Wednesday ahead of Saturday’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix.[/p][p]“There are things in ‌discussion that are out of my control, there are ‌certain topics that are out of my control.[/p][p][b]“I will keep pushing until the end of the year and see how it goes.”[/b][/p][p]When asked if ‌he was talking to other teams, Ocon said, “Of ⁠course, yeah.”[/p][p][b]“Let’s see,” [/b]he ‌added when asked if continuing with Haas was still an option.[/p][embed guid="3d83e1e4-1fdd-4c9a-b04f-aa1a87e7208e" url="https://x.com/formularacers_/status/2102698639655096732" social-type="twitter" /][p]Ocon, 30, ​who took the sole win of his Formula One career so far at the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix ​with Alpine, joined American outfit Haas last year in an all-new line-up with Briton and Ferrari junior [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/bearman-oliver/tMI3u5xo/"]Oliver Bearman[/a].[/p][p]He has scored ⁠three points to Bearman’s ​18 this year and sits 18th of 23 drivers in the overall standings. But he is the team’s most recent points scorer with a ninth-place finish in Monaco.[/p][p]Bearman, 21, is 13th in ‌the overall standings.[/p][p]There was speculation earlier in the year about whether Ocon would see out the season with the Ferrari-powered team following media reports of a rift with team boss Ayao Komatsu.[/p][p]Ocon in May dismissed the reports as “fabricated with no foundation”.[/p][p]Haas, who scored points in five of the opening six races but have drawn a blank since Ocon’s Monaco effort back in June, are yet to confirm their 2027 driver line-up.[/p][p]But multiple media ‌reports have identified Ferrari-backed Brazilian Rafael Camara, currently second in ​the Formula 2 standings, as favourite to replace Ocon.[/p][p]The Frenchman, ‌however, defended his performances this season.[/p][p][b]“My performance hasn’t been an issue this year,”[/b] he said.[/p][p]“I’ve performed every time I had the car.[/p][p][b]“I’ve been the last one to score in Monaco, I was almost scoring (at the last race) in ⁠Madrid.[/b][/p][p]“There’s been a lot of ⁠times where I’ve performed ‌when the car was underperforming.”[/p]