Ocon dismisses Haas rift rumours ahead of Canadian Grand Prix

Reports that surfaced after the Florida weekend suggested the French driver had fallen out with Ayao Komatsu and could even part ways with the American squad before the end of the 2026 Formula 1 season. The rumours emerged during a challenging start to the campaign for Ocon, who has scored just a single point so far, while team mate Ollie Bearman has already collected 17 points across Grands Prix and Sprint races.

Speaking ahead of this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal, Ocon rejected the claims and criticised the lack of credibility behind the stories.

"The stories have been fabricated with no foundation. There were no real sources in there. I've joined this team because of Ayao, because I've known him for so long," said Ocon, as quoted by F1 official website.

"He's been my first race engineer in F1 and he's going to set the record straight later in the media. There was no dispute in Miami but when I read the article that kicked it all off, they call him Ryo Komatsu, so I as soon as I read that I stopped reading," the French driver added.

While Ocon made clear there is no conflict inside the team, he admitted the rumours had still taken a personal toll.

"At the end of the day, I'm human, so when it escalates so much and when there is so much going on it effects my sponsors, my family, it effects everyone that is around me. t's not normal that you can fabricate stories like this and just get away with not having any problems for yourself. You can't just lie about things," the Haas driver said.

The Frenchman also stressed that maintaining the trust of the team is what matters most as Haas continues working to improve its competitiveness.

"I've never faced that in F1 before. The important thing is the job we are doing inside the team and as long as Ayao is happy with that, and seeing that I'm putting the work in, and that we will deliver the result when they come, that's the most important," Ocon concluded.