Rafael Camara has been announced as a Formula 1 driver for the 2027 season and he’ll function Esteban Ocon’s alternative at Haas.
It’ll see the 21-year-old Brazilian make his F1 debut after such a fast rise via the junior formulae.
Camara gained the 2024 Components Regional European Championship and the 2025 Components 3 title, following that up by presently main the Components 2 standings by seven factors.
However he’s nonetheless such a uncooked expertise versus the expertise and race-winning know-how of Ocon, who has endured a tricky time since becoming a member of Haas firstly of 2025.
So has the American outfit made the proper transfer? Our writers have their say.
Uncooked velocity makes Camara an ideal decide
Rafael Camara, Invicta Racing
Photograph by: Dom Gibbons / Components 1 by way of Getty Photographs
Because the saying goes, you can also make a fast driver dependable, however you may’t make a dependable driver fast.
Camara is among the quickest drivers from the previous decade in junior formulae; his qualifying report speaks for him. He took seven poles, greater than anybody, on his method to the 2024 Components Regional European Championship title; his 2025 F3 report was 5 poles out of 9, which is unprecedented within the present period. You’d have to return to Luca Ghiotto’s an identical feat, within the 2015 GP3 season, to search out comparable efficiency. And but, in maybe essentially the most aggressive title battle ever at that degree, Ghiotto had narrowly misplaced out to Ocon within the title race.
Quick-forward 11 years, and Ocon is dropping his Haas seat to Camara. Are the Frenchman’s outcomes this season consultant of his precise efficiency? In all probability not, with the VF-26’s notorious inconsistency difficulty plaguing him for a very long time. Nevertheless it maybe took a toll on the ambiance inside the group as frustration grew, and in that case, making a change made sense – particularly with somebody like Camara accessible.
The Brazilian has all of it: backing from Haas provider Ferrari – identical to anticipated future Haas team-mate Oliver Bearman – apparent tempo and potential back-to-back titles in FREC, F3 and F2. The Invicta racer presently leads the standings in F1’s feeder collection, with 5 pole positions out of 13. No one else has taken greater than two.
After all, there have been errors, like his lock-up into retirement as he fought title rival Nikola Tsolov for victory in Monaco, however Camara has nonetheless taken constant factors finishes and commanding characteristic race wins.
Haas will miss Ocon’s expertise, however Bearman can develop into the group chief function, and the choice is sensible to arrange for the longer term.
– Ben Vinel
Why take away a grand prix winner for a rookie?
Ocon after profitable the 2021 Hungarian GP
Photograph by: Dan Istitene / Getty Photographs
Ocon was fairly frank about it: he does not deserve this shit, he mentioned, to be exact. And to be simply as frank, I see no purpose to disagree with him.
Sure, the numbers normally do not lie. And Ocon, regardless of being the extra skilled driver, with each proper to be thought of a group chief, has scored fewer factors up to now than Bearman.
However is that actually a case of him underdelivering?
Ayao Komatsu has admitted there have been points with the automotive’s inconsistency, and in the event you imagine Ocon, he is solely had a handful of races wherein he is been capable of have a correct go at it. And the previous few rounds actually recommend that, even when he isn’t higher than Bearman, he is at the least on a par with him.
All through its historical past, Haas has benefited vastly from having drivers with a wealth of expertise. The likes of Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen helped develop it into a reputable group – and it has additionally failed spectacularly with rookies up to now. The selection to go together with Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin again within the day was a matter of survival, given the monetary backing each introduced. However does Haas actually need to go for a rookie driver now? There is not any purpose to imagine so.
So it seems that the Brazilian has been chosen by Haas on sporting grounds, however I am unable to see how he will be higher proper now than a confirmed race winner. Until there’s merely an excessive amount of stress from Ferrari to tackle one other junior from its Academy, I am unable to see Camara scoring extra factors for the group right away than Ocon, with all his expertise.
Ocon remains to be quick and dependable when the automotive works because it ought to. So why make the change? Particularly if it is for an additional driver who will be taken away each time Ferrari wants him.
How will you construct your future round drivers who’re mainly on mortgage from an even bigger group? I believed the Ocon and Bearman mixture made good sense in that regard, because the Frenchman was the group’s personal driver. Now Haas provides extra of an impression of turning into a Ferrari junior group relatively than an unbiased outfit.
All of that, in fact, turns into irrelevant if Komatsu has seen one thing completely particular from Camara throughout these TPC exams – and given how Bearman has turned out, you’d argue Ayao is aware of what he is doing.
However nonetheless, there is a feeling that Ocon has been arduous finished by the group – which has nearly used its underperforming automotive as an excuse to eliminate him.
– Oleg Karpov
That is the possibility for Haas to signal a possible generational expertise
Rafael Camara, Invicta Racing
Photograph by: Dom Gibbons / Components 1 by way of Getty Photographs
Over current rounds it’s been arduous to really feel something however sympathy for Ocon, watching him ship such outlandish statements in a transparent determined plea to remain on the grid. Would he have been saying such issues if he weren’t up in opposition to it? No. It was clearly a tactic from him to remind individuals of what he’s finished up to now, figuring out the jury was very a lot out.
However prefer it or not, a whole lot of what he mentioned was truly true. Ocon did cap off a stable junior profession by profitable GP3 – beating Max Verstappen in European F3 within the course of – and greater than held his personal for a decade in F1.
His very spectacular first full season in 2017 mustn’t be forgotten, scoring factors in each spherical bar two for Drive India, nor ought to the truth that he got here very near a career-changing transfer to Mercedes throughout its dominant years. There’s additionally his win at Hungary, 2021, in addition to the truth that he’s one among solely two drivers – Jenson Button the opposite – to outscore Fernando Alonso in a season as team-mates – 92 to 81 in 2022.
It’s hoped that the above info are what Ocon shall be remembered for, and never his two seasons with Haas. Equally, Daniel Ricciardo ought to largely be remembered for the whole lot however his decline on the finish.
But there’s one other truth – or opinion – that mustn’t be ignored: it’s time for Ocon to depart. Though outcomes have improved of late, how a lot of that’s all the way down to the 30-year-old figuring out he has some extent to show and a job on the road? Haas simply isn’t going to get significantly better with the Frenchman behind the wheel, nevertheless it simply would possibly with such an thrilling teenager in Camara.
Oleg talks about age and expertise, however the 2026 champion-in-waiting – Kimi Antonelli – began the season as a young person. So is that actually as vital at the present time? Camara can also be the identical age as Bearman, and his junior report speaks for itself.
If he turns into F2 champion, he’ll be part of Charles Leclerc, George Russell, Oscar Piastri and fellow Brazilian Gabriel Bortoleto to win that and F3 as rookies. Camara may also turn into the one driver to win these two and FREC in consecutive seasons.
These are all of the statistics of a future frontrunner and when one considers the 21-year-old’s velocity as outlined by Ben, he’s already F1-level. There’s no purpose to imagine he gained’t be preventing for wins and titles in 10 years time. An opportunity for Haas to signal such a driver could not come up once more, so this is a chance it should pounce on, and honest play for doing so.
– Ed Hardy
We wish to hear from you!
Tell us what you wish to see from us sooner or later.
– The Autosport.com Group
