Ocon dropped - is it the end of his F1 career?

Esteban Ocon's career as a Formula 1 race driver is over - at least for the foreseeable future - after a falling-out with Haas led to the Frenchman being dropped for the rest of this season.

Ocon, 30, was already going to be leaving Haas at the end of the year, with little prospect of finding a seat on the grid next season.

But the acrimonious turn of events in Mexico City last weekend brought that forward by a few races.

Ocon now faces a year on the sidelines, with the aim of finding a berth as a reserve driver, as he seeks to rebuild his career.

This is not the first time he has found himself in this situation.

Ocon was also without a seat in 2019 when he lost his drive at what had been called the Force India team after it was bought by Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll, who put his son Lance in Ocon's car.

This, though, feels like it has more potential finality about it. Not least because, 10 years into his career in F1, Ocon is well known within the sport for both his competitive level and his approach.

He's been around the block a few times. His career has not been especially stellar. He has a reputation for falling out with teams and team-mates. And there is a new generation breaking through in F1, led by new world champion Kimi Antonelli.

Ocon dropped by Haas for rest of season after row

Ocon denies reports of physical altercation behind dropping

The catalyst for Ocon's departure from Haas was a falling-out with team principal Ayao Komatsu after Friday practice in Mexico City last weekend.

Exactly what led to him being dropped is unknown. No-one is talking, not even off the record, and lawyers are now involved.

What is known is that Ocon objected over the team radio while in the car to being told by his engineer Laura Mueller that they were switching his run plan from using soft tyres for his race-simulation run to mediums.

Ocon said to Mueller: "No, no. I wanted the soft. Don't do that to me. Come on."

It seems the argument carried on after the session with Komatsu. The announcement that he was dropped for the weekend came on Saturday morning.

Later that day, Ocon put out a statement on social media admitting "a difference in viewpoints led to a discussion with the parties involved" but adding that he "categorically rejected any reports or allegations suggesting that any form of physical violence was used to resolve any differences of any nature".

That followed a report in France's L'Equipe newspaper saying a meeting between Komatsu and Ocon "ended abruptly, perhaps even physically".

Haas said nothing more over the weekend in Mexico but on Tuesday evening put out what was already being seen as the inevitable announcement that he would not drive for the team again.

Complaints and clashes with team-mates

Haas had already run out of patience with Ocon long before Mexico City but whatever happened there was serious enough that Komatsu felt the relationship had to end on the spot.

The decline of Ocon's time with Haas has echoes of previous experiences.

Ocon has been beaten by team-mate Oliver Bearman over his two seasons at Haas, just as he was outpaced by Pierre Gasly and before him Fernando Alonso at Alpine, and Daniel Ricciardo before that when the team was known as Renault.

When Haas signed Ocon, his reputation was such that many were surprised they had taken him. Komatsu felt he could make it work.

But the team began to notice a pattern. When Ocon was struggling, he would become defensive and blame the team and car. Tensions would rise and the team felt there was a lack of accountability from the driver.

There were also clashes with his team-mate, for example in Monaco practice when they got in each other's way and Bearman ended up calling Ocon "an idiot" over the radio.

They also crashed into each other towards the end of the British Grand Prix last year.

Competitive tensions between team-mates are common in F1. A driver's team-mate is also their biggest rival - the only person with the same equipment so the only driver against which they can be directly measured.

The parallel need to work together to benefit the team's overall prospects can be an uncomfortable ask in such circumstances.

It's a problem that is causing tension at Ferrari between Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, for example, as was also seen in Mexico.

But over the years, Ocon has built an unenviable reputation for both these sides of his character. To outsiders, this can be surprising because he is charm personified with the media, a delight to deal with.