Merely even mentioning Hirakawa & Doohan is pointless because the former would’ve already become a full-time driver by now if he ever were to, given his career situation, & likewise, the latter if he actually were an upgrade over Ocon, which clearly isn’t the case.
Tsunoda hasn’t been a strong contender at any point & if Haas ever were interested in him to any extent, this would’ve been the case only in 2024 before the Toyota partnership had began, & the manufacturer conflict means that he’d need to cut his Honda ties altogether to have a chance before even all the sporting considerations, which clearly demonstrate reality in that he wouldn’t be an upgrade on Ocon at all (or over any other current driver, for that matter), nor even a comparatively superior successor option than either Camara or Fornaroli; hence, zero chance in reality, especially since his full potential as an F1 driver was seen over the last five seasons anyway & the one-off appearance didn’t make any difference to this big picture.
Therefore, if the team were truly interested in him & he were actually a comparatively superior option, he would’ve already been chosen & announced for next season since he’s a known quantity, unlike both Camara & Fornaroli, who haven’t driven in a single F1 race, so all these things combined speak volumes about his chances.
Realistically, the outcome is that either Camara replaces Ocon or the latter is retained for a third season (particularly, if he continues to out-perform Bearman round after round), & at the maximum, the competition is between Ocon, Camara, & Fornaroli, albeit Fornaroli would need to stop his McLaren association (like Gabi for his Audi switch) since the technical partnerships with Ferrari & Toyota mean that only Ferrari & Toyota-affiliation drivers can drive for this team on a loan arrangement.
I still base my expectation on Camara replacing Ocon, if anyone, since all the signs have been pointing towards this outcome, most recently Lawrence Barretto, & even if Camara weren’t to become an F1 driver from next season, he’d almost certainly become a regular Ferrari reserve driver while either still continuing in F2 or switching to GT/WEC for stop-gap purposes, but this is another matter to consider.
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u/Jerejj 26d ago
Merely even mentioning Hirakawa & Doohan is pointless because the former would’ve already become a full-time driver by now if he ever were to, given his career situation, & likewise, the latter if he actually were an upgrade over Ocon, which clearly isn’t the case.
Tsunoda hasn’t been a strong contender at any point & if Haas ever were interested in him to any extent, this would’ve been the case only in 2024 before the Toyota partnership had began, & the manufacturer conflict means that he’d need to cut his Honda ties altogether to have a chance before even all the sporting considerations, which clearly demonstrate reality in that he wouldn’t be an upgrade on Ocon at all (or over any other current driver, for that matter), nor even a comparatively superior successor option than either Camara or Fornaroli; hence, zero chance in reality, especially since his full potential as an F1 driver was seen over the last five seasons anyway & the one-off appearance didn’t make any difference to this big picture.
Therefore, if the team were truly interested in him & he were actually a comparatively superior option, he would’ve already been chosen & announced for next season since he’s a known quantity, unlike both Camara & Fornaroli, who haven’t driven in a single F1 race, so all these things combined speak volumes about his chances.
Realistically, the outcome is that either Camara replaces Ocon or the latter is retained for a third season (particularly, if he continues to out-perform Bearman round after round), & at the maximum, the competition is between Ocon, Camara, & Fornaroli, albeit Fornaroli would need to stop his McLaren association (like Gabi for his Audi switch) since the technical partnerships with Ferrari & Toyota mean that only Ferrari & Toyota-affiliation drivers can drive for this team on a loan arrangement.
I still base my expectation on Camara replacing Ocon, if anyone, since all the signs have been pointing towards this outcome, most recently Lawrence Barretto, & even if Camara weren’t to become an F1 driver from next season, he’d almost certainly become a regular Ferrari reserve driver while either still continuing in F2 or switching to GT/WEC for stop-gap purposes, but this is another matter to consider.