Esteban Ocon vented his frustration in a fiery outburst after being eliminated in Q2 during Azerbaijan Grand Prix qualifying, declaring, “I don’t deserve this s***.” The Haas driver, who had shown solid pace in practice, was only 14th-fastest in qualifying—three spots behind team-mate Ollie Bearman. Ocon blamed a yellow flag for derailing what he believed would have been a “mega” Q3 lap, calling it “the story of my season.”
“It was going to be a Q3 lap at the end there, but unfortunately we got the yellow flag. It’s the story of my season; different race, same story,” Ocon said. “Either it’s something that the car is not working, or when the car is working well there’s something falling on my back… I don’t think I deserve all that shit that’s going on. I’m very pissed off, because I deserved to be in Q3 today and we couldn’t show it. But the car is performing and that is a positive.”
Ocon, widely rumored to be out at Haas for 2027 and with an option at Cadillac looking unlikely, admitted earlier in the week that he’s “a free agent” for next season. “There are things in discussion that are out of my control… I will keep pushing until the end of the year and see how it goes.”
Despite the disappointment, Ocon remains focused on maximizing his performance with Haas for the remainder of the season, even as his F1 future hangs in the balance. **
