Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu and owner Gene Haas are well aware that they need at least one new driver for the 2025 Formula 1 season.
Nico Hulkenberg is on his way to Sauber next year ahead of Audi’s takeover of the team the following year.
Speaking on The Race Podcast, journalist Edd Straw has suggested one driver who could turn up at Haas next year and be an upgrade on Kevin Magnussen.
Although the Dane isn’t linked with a driver elsewhere on the grid, there are currently no guarantees that he’ll be retained for next season.
Magnussen’s comments during the Miami Grand Prix didn’t go down well with the team as he nears a one-race ban.
READ MORE: Haas driver Kevin Magnussen’s life outside F1 from wife and daughters to net worth
After that race, Magnussen admitted that concrete contract talks with Haas hadn’t started yet.
Now, it’s been suggested that Esteban Ocon could turn up at Haas or one of their rivals next year.
The one-time Formula 1 race winner will be assessing his options on the grid with his time at Alpine likely to come to an end when the season finishes in Abu Dhabi.
READ MORE: Alpine driver Esteban Ocon’s life outside F1 from net worth to girlfriend
Esteban Ocon could ‘turn up’ at Haas next season
The Monaco Grand Prix was a very mixed weekend for the Alpine team.
On the positive side, Pierre Gasly finally scored his first point of the season, converting his best qualifying performance of the year into a 10-place finish.
However, his race could have ended before the end of the first lap after a poorly judged move from his teammate.
Ocon spotted an opportunity heading into Portier down the inside of Gasly but couldn’t squeeze through the gap and ended up making contact with the 28-year-old’s back-right tyre.
The Frenchman was sent flying into the air and the damage done when he returned to the track was enough to stop him from taking the restart after the red flag.
Tensions between Ocon and Alpine have been growing and it looks almost certain that he’ll be moving on at the end of the year.
That means that Ocon could turn up at Haas next season and Ocon has already been linked with a move to the American team.
However, Guenther Steiner has suggested that Ocon may be out of Haas’s budget given his current demands.
READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Haas F1 Team from team principal to Ferrari relationship
Esteban Ocon facing uncertain future after Monaco Grand Prix crash
Talking about the French driver, Straw said: “There’s a lot of quality in [Esteban] Ocon so I’m sure he’ll turn up at a Haas or a Williams, one of those two teams.
“He kind of gives you…he’s got a bit of the Kevin Magnussen’s about him but I do actually think that he’s a better all-round driver than Kevin Magnussen.
“So, plenty to offer but I think the only way a driver like him gets into a top team is if he’s seen as a good solid number two, a good, safe pair of hands.
“And I think everything that’s around him and the way he’s really trying to push for everything means he’s not necessarily well-suited to being that number two driver.”
Kevin Magnussen will hope that if Esteban Ocon does turn up at Haas, it will be as his teammate rather than his replacement.
However, the idea that two of Formula 1’s more fiery characters teaming up could concern the Haas hierarchy even if it provides plenty of entertainment for onlookers.
They’re also expected to find a place for Oliver Bearman in the team next year and he’s got five more FP1 outings to prepare for this year to prove to Haas that he’s the next rookie who deserves a place on the grid.
The post ‘Lot of quality’: F1 race winner who’s ‘better’ than Magnussen could ‘turn up’ at Haas in 2025 – journalist appeared first on F1 Oversteer.