Haas Has Its Man for Ocon’s Seat: Rafael Camara Joins an Increasingly All-Ferrari Garage
The official announcement hasn’t landed yet, but RacingNews365’s paddock sources say the decision has: Rafael “Rafa” Camara is Haas’s pick to replace the departing Esteban Ocon from 2027, with the deal reportedly sealed during the Singapore race weekend.
Camara, a Ferrari academy driver currently fighting for the Formula 2 title, would line up alongside Oliver Bearman in what’s shaping up to be an all-Ferrari-backed driver pairing for 2027. Getting there wasn’t a formality — Haas ran several candidates through TPC test outings, including third driver Jack Doohan, Toyota’s Ryo Hirakawa and McLaren junior Leonardo Fornaroli. According to the sources, Camara and Doohan emerged as the real contenders, with Doohan reportedly driving well enough to make the final call a genuinely difficult one for team management.
The timing lands squarely in the sport’s ongoing “B-team” debate. Haas already runs Ferrari engines, gearboxes and a design office in Maranello, and team principal Ayao Komatsu was candid about the optics at Sepang: “Whatever we do, there are different optics” — since handing the seat to Camara invites the obvious line that he’s “another Ferrari driver.”
Source: RacingNews365 (https://racingnews365.com/haas-finalise-new-f1-driver-line-up-with-esteban-ocon-replacement-chosen)
