Ocon will have his Haas debut in the Abu Dhabi test
Esteban Ocon and Nico Hulkenberg have both been confirmed as being released to drive for their future employers in the post-season Abu Dhabi Pirelli test in December.
Haas boss Ayao Komatsu has said that the Frenchman will have his first taste of the Haas VF-24.
His 2025 team mate Ollie Bearman will drive the rookie car on the same day as he is still qualified to do, having started only two F1 races.
Meanwhile departing Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg will make his first appearance for Sauber, as officially confirmed to this writer on Thursday by team representative Alessandro Alunni Bravi.
Sauber has yet to make a call on a rookie driver for Abu Dhabi as it has yet to decide who will drive the second car in 2025, and it could yet sign a newcomer such as Gabriel Bortoleto.
Meanwhile a senior Williams source confirmed that the Grove team is still in negotiation with Ferrari over a release for Carlos Sainz.
Usually such tests involved special arrangements such as drivers using unbranded overalls and helmets and running without logos on their cars due to them still being contracted to their previous teams for marketing purposes.
A release deal from Ferrari will probably more complicated to arrange for Sainz than for drivers from some other teams, given the commercial implications.
One driver who definitely won’t be sampling his new team in Abu Dhabi is Lewis Hamilton.
The seven-times World Champion won’t be sble to drive the Ferrari SF-24, and is instead committed to a major event in Malaysia on that day, and which is in effect his farewell to longtime Mercedes partner Petronas.
Meanwhile Komatsu says that Ocon’s early debut will be very valuable to Haas.
“That will be the first time for Esteban to drive our car,” he said Komatsu. “Which is important, because obviously regulations are stable. So next year’s car is an evolution of this car.
“So at least it’s good that he tastes this car before January or as soon as possible, to see what our car is like, strength and weakness. And then if he has input, we can still work on it, during the development.
“And also, obviously Ollie has been driving this car, limited to FP1 and one race, so Ollie is going to be driving as well. So again, just to have the opportunity to work with the team, experience the VF-24.
“Everything helps, right? We’ve got one driver doing the rookie test, and then one driver doing the tyre test.”
Future race drivers Kimi Antonelli and Jack Doohan will handle rookie test duties in Abu Dhabi with Alpine and Mercedes respectively.
Adam Cooper F1 