I’ve been thinking about this a lot and while a lot of the midfield/back marker teams want to shake up their driver lineup next year, I think it makes a lot more sense to keep KMag in light of what’s happening next season.
Haas has had a lot of bad luck with younger drivers in past seasons, and while Ollie Bearman is Ferrari-contracted, a seat there won’t be open for another 2-3 seasons at least.
I say this as someone who actually is an Ocon fan and knows he’s more talented than KMag. Ocon, deserved or not, has a reputation as a toxic teammate, which would be really detrimental to a new-to-F1 driver. KMag at least has shown he’s willing to play ball to stay in F1, and does well defending teammates in races. Magnussen has also been in the car for a couple years with the current regs and that familiarity can also help acclimate Bearman.
In short, if Bearman is developed in a more stable environment Haas can potentially get 2-3 seasons of quality driving that may exceed Hulk’s capabilities, whereas with Ocon Haas will probably be in the same spot with more long-term chaos.
I have this one too! My kids play with it once in a while.
General Mills cereal box toy predicted the next gen in 2010
NASCAR