Toto Wolff says Haas boss had to decide when Ocon dispute went too far

Following Haas’s Tuesday announcement that Esteban Ocon would not drive in the remaining four Grands Prix, Toto Wolff said team principal Ayao Komatsu had to decide when the dispute had gone far enough. “You've got to respect that in the end the team calls the shots,” Wolff said. He said Komatsu needed to represent and protect Haas from what he called “certain rhetoric”, while Ocon, in Wolff’s account, felt personally that he had done nothing wrong.

During second practice in Mexico, Ocon contested a call from engineer Laura Mueller to switch his high-fuel run from soft to medium tyres. The situation was understood to have escalated during Friday’s debrief with Komatsu, who has declined to go into detail about what was said. Haas had confirmed on Saturday morning that Ocon would not drive for the rest of the weekend.

Rafael Camara, previously announced as Ocon’s replacement for next season, was set to make his F1 debut in front of his home crowd at the São Paulo Grand Prix.

Wolff has known Ocon since his junior single-seater days. He said Mercedes took over management of Ocon’s career through driver development adviser Gwen Lagrue. Wolff recalled that a Manor seat from the 2016 Belgian Grand Prix required $2 million; Mercedes could provide $1 million, he said, while Fred Vasseur personally put in the remaining $1 million.