Oct.9 (GMM) Esteban Ocon says he would accept a reserve role in 2027 if he cannot secure a Formula 1 race seat, and has ruled out racing elsewhere for now.
The departing Haas driver was unusually open about his situation in Singapore.
“Still working on it, still discussing,” said the Frenchman.
“When I will have more news for you guys, I will announce something.”
When asked where he would race if Formula 1 was no longer available, Ocon was blunt.
“Formula 1. That’s where I deserve to be.”
“If I look at the results and what I’ve shown in Formula 1, I deserve to be in Formula 1.”
Ocon said other categories hold no immediate appeal.
“I want to be racing in Formula 1 in the next five, seven years,” said the 30-year-old.
“That’s where I want to be. So yeah, in the near future, that’s the only thing I’m looking at so far.”
When asked directly whether he would race in another series next year if no F1 seat materialised, Ocon replied simply : “No.”
But he would consider stepping back into a third-driver role, as he did with Mercedes in 2019.
“Yes, yeah,” said Ocon.
“If there are no possibilities to race next year, that’s what I would do.”