Winners and Losers From Esteban Ocon's Switch to Haas

The one-time Grand Prix winner joins the American team on a multi-year contract and will partner Britain's Oliver Bearman. The Brit, who currently lies 14th in the Formula 2 championship, has one F1 start, a super sub appearance at the 2024 Saudi Arabian GP.

Haas is now the fifth team to declare its driver lineup for 2025, as the options for those still vying for a spot on the 2025 grid continue to dwindle.

But who won from Ocon's switch to Haas, and who came out on the wrong side?

Winner - Esteban Ocon

For a brief time, it looked like Ocon could be bounced off the F1 grid for 2025 after Alpine ended his stint with the team before June's Canadian GP.

The Frenchman was a contender to join Mercedes in place of the departing Lewis Hamilton, but those talks came to nothing, and he was left to look elsewhere. A mid-season switch to Williams replacing the underperforming and out of favour Logan Sargeant was also mooted. But Alpine blocked that move because both teams were locked together in an intense fight for eighth in the constructors' championship.

Landing at Haas on a multi-year deal is a great result for both parties. The Frenchman gets stability while the team picks up an experienced driver with plenty of talent.

Winner - Haas

Haas has been the surprise package of 2024, currently lying seventh in the constructors championship despite low expectations entering pre-season.

Although losing Nico Hulkenberg was a blow, gaining Ocon will soften it, as the Frenchman has been known for his consistency and determination throughout his F1 career.

Gaining a driver who knows how to win in F1 and how a factory team runs will help steer Haas in the right direction as they look to move up the midfield, as well as ticking another box.

A bonus is that Bearman gets a mentor who has endured the highs and lows of GP racing to help him adjust to the demands of being a full-time F1 driver.

Winner - Toto Wolff & Mercedes

Mercedes has emerged as a surprise winner from Ocon's signing with Haas. That's because despite never having driven for the main team, the Frenchman is still part of the eight-time constructors champions setup. In 2014, he was enrolled into the team's driver academy.

Since then, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has handled the Frenchman's affairs, helping him secure drivers with Mercedes customer teams, such as Force India in 2017. They also saved him during the lowest ebbs of his F1 career, when he wasn't guaranteed to return to the grid.

In 2019, after losing out on a Renault drive to Daniel Ricciardo, Ocon found a lifeline as he was hired to become Mercedes reserve driver for the season before getting his return to a full-time F1 seat for 2020 at the Enstone-based team.

Avoiding a repeat of 2018 is a major benefit for all parties as it enables another Mercedes-backed driver to remain on the grid without potentially impacting their plans to promote Italian Kimi Antonelli.

Loser - Kevin Magnussen

It seems rather sad that the last of the old-school F1 drivers will likely be out of the series for the second and possibly final time at season's end.

Love him or loathe him, Kevin Magnussen's F1 career has been far from dull. The Dane never once quit when the going got tough or in a difficult position. In his final years, he became a great teammate, playing rear gunner to Hulkenberg and helping Haas secure vital points.

However, Magnussen's bold defensive driving and never-say-die attitude weren't the only attributes he showed during his seven-year stint at Haas. The Dane's pole lap at the 2022 Sao Paulo GP was one of the sport's greatest David vs Goliath moments, and he achieved the team's best finish of fifth three times.

Fortunately, Magnussen won't be out of racing for too long. He's considering his options in sportscars and IndyCar and trying to remain on the F1 grid.

Loser - Zhou Guanyu

Those tears in Shanghai could now have a different meaning, as the loss of a potential drive at Haas puts Zhou Guanyu in a perilous position.

In his three years at Sauber, Zhou has performed amicably, silencing some critics who labeled him a pay driver when he first arrived in F1. The issue is that while the Shanghai native has been clean and consistent, he's hardly set the world alight, and with better drivers still available, he's near the back of the driver queue.

Zhou's case isn't helped by having the worst car on the grid in 2024, with neither he nor teammate Valtteri Bottas scoring points so far.

Due to his experience and substantial financial backing, a seat at Williams or a return to the Alpine fold if their top target, Carlos Sainz, goes elsewhere is possible.

Loser - Audi

Audi/Sauber has been jilted at the altar again by its first and second-choice driver targets, forcing them to reevaluate who they could sign to partner  Hulkenberg in 2025.

Sainz was the team's first option, but his insistence on waiting for other offers made Sauber switch focus to other candidates. Ocon was the second choice, but now he's off the table, leaving them in a tricky situation.

Liam Lawson has recently emerged as a contender for the second seat, but he, too, may be out of reach. The Red Bull family has promised him a drive at either of their teams for 2025.

That may give Daniel Ricciardo a lifeline, but he will likely be a candidate for the second Red Bull seat alongside Max Verstappen if Sergio Perez is deemed surplus to requirements during the summer break.