Haas has completed its latest Testing of Previous Cars (TPC) run with Ryo Hirakawa, Leonardo Fornaroli and Rafael Camara in action, as focus on its 2027 Formula 1 driver line-up increases.
With the 2027 F1 silly season picking up speed since the end of the summer break, Haas is one of the few teams to officially decide its driver line-up for next season.
While Oliver Bearman looks assured of retaining his place at the team for 2027, attention has turned to Esteban Ocon’s position, with Haas making no secret of its intention to assess all of its options.
The American team has just completed a three-day TPC test at Portimao, where reserve driver Hirakawa was in action alongside 2025 Formula 2 champion and McLaren development driver Fornaroli and current F2 title contender and Ferrari junior Camara. Each driver completed laps in the VF-25 – Haas’ 2025 F1 car – at the Portuguese venue from 26-28 August.
It follows a similar TPC test Haas ran last month, when it gave an opportunity to Toyota-backed drivers Sho Tsuboi and Nirei Fukuzumi at Fuji.
While no further information has been revealed about the Portimao TPC test, it was made clear it was part of the wider plan by Haas to evaluate all interested drivers before making a final decision on its 2027 line-up.
Ayao Komatsu, Haas F1 Team
Photo by: Simon Galloway / LAT Images via Getty Images
“I think it’s really good that other people are actually interested in us,” Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu said ahead of the Dutch GP last weekend.
“At the moment, we’re not performing so well. We cannot challenge for points, but I think it’s nice that other people can see the potential in us. Within the constraint how we’re fighting and we’re trying to improve the team. We just take it as a compliment that other drivers are interested.”
Komatsu has stressed his immediate focus is on the short term to maximise performance from both the car and its drivers in 2026, indicating Haas will take its time to decide its future driver pairing.
In Haas’ short history in F1, it has often been one of the last teams to announce its driver line-up for the following season – so a similar timeline isn’t unrealistic given the relatively stable driver line-ups elsewhere on the grid for 2027.
“We’re not in any rush,” Komatsu said at Zandvoort. “We’re focused on our two drivers, Ollie and Esteban, trying to get the best out of them. They’ve got the tough challenge, right? You know what they are capable of.
“Ollie has showed it repeatedly, Esteban, when he is happy with the car, you know what he can do. So we need to really just focus on providing them with the best possible car, best set-up adaptation, and get the best out of them. And then both of our drivers are fully focused. So at the moment, we’re focused on that.”
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– The Autosport.com Team
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