Why nationality should be 'no factor' as Haas considers Fornaroli and Camara for F1 2027

The Haas Formula 1 team may have strong links with both Ferrari and Toyota, but its team principal Ayao Komatsu has been crystal clear about its driver policy. Only performance will dictate who drives for his team in 2027, rather than nationality or political influence.

With Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton settled at Ferrari, Haas is expected to continue with Ferrari loanee Oliver Bearman for a third and likely final season, before the Scuderia will have to take a decision on the 21-year-old’s long-term future within the organisation.

Esteban Ocon's position in the second seat is much less secure as he has struggled to match Bearman on a regular basis, with the Frenchman frustrated by car inconsistencies that he claims have hindered him at all but two rounds so far in 2026.

In recent weeks, reigning Formula 2 champion and McLaren junior Leonardo Fornaroli, and Ferrari junior Rafael Camara, have emerged as two leading contenders for Ocon's seat should Haas decide to make a change next year.

Haas' status as a Ferrari customer team has led speculation towards 21-year-old Camara, the reigning Formula 3 champion who is now contesting the F2 title. But speaking ahead of last week's Belgian Grand Prix, Komatsu says his main consideration is performance rather than links with other teams.

"Honestly, that's not a main concern," he said. "All we want is drivers who can produce maximum results for us. It's better to have that driver than any other consideration. Our pure consideration is that: who's the best driver for the team?"

Haas is currently trying to decide on Bearman's team-mate for 2027

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That also applies to Haas' technical partnership with Toyota, which is giving Japanese engineers, mechanics and drivers valuable F1 experience. Haas, meanwhile, is benefitting on a technical and resource level, which includes building its first in-house simulator and establishing a testing programme. As part of that programme Fornaroli has already tested last year's Haas and Camara is also expected to get seat time later this summer. But the team has also given Toyota's WEC ace Ryo Hirakawa plenty of run time, both privately and in Friday practice sessions.

As 32-year-old Hirakawa is set to take over Bearman's car for FP1 in Hungary this weekend, Komatsu stressed that what applied to his Ferrari links also applies to Toyota - performance comes first - something he was up front about with Toyota's big boss Akio Toyoda.

"I've been totally clear from day one to Akio-san, because I just didn't want any misunderstanding with him either," Komatsu said.

Fornaroli is further along in his development and could be a safer short-term bet for Haas. It is understood that if Haas was keen to do a deal for Fornaroli, McLaren wouldn't stand in his way

"If we put a driver in because of nationality, then that discredits all the people making that decision, including that driver. Because even if the driver is capable, if everyone's perception is like, ‘oh, he's only here because of Toyota, because of money', then that's not going to do Toyota any good, Akio-san any good, the Haas F1 Team any good, the driver any good. We always said from day one, I was totally clear to Akio-san, we choose the driver by performance, 100%.

"Yes, if the performance is 100% equal, then of course things like budget you can bring, or what we can do to that country, in terms of backing or generating more interest, those are all added values. But the main thing is performance. We're not going to put in somebody who's slower because he's Japanese or Italian or whatever, we don't care."

Speaking of performance, Camara has certainly emerged as an enticing prospect just on talent alone, having impressed Ferrari with his natural turn of speed albeit still lacking a bit of polish. 

Camara is currently third in the F2 standings and could become the second Brazilian on the F1 grid after Gabriel Bortoleto

Photo by: James Sutton / Formula 1 / Formula Motorsport Ltd via Getty Images

Autosport understands that trying to get the long-time Ferrari Academy member an F1 seat next year is a plausible path for Ferrari. But it is also considering if it could be more beneficial for the young Brazilian's development to spend a year as a fully-fledged F1 reserve before graduating to a race seat.

While of similar age, Fornaroli is further along in his development and could be a safer short-term bet for Haas. It is understood that if Haas was keen to do a deal for Fornaroli, McLaren wouldn't stand in his way. But unlike its previous junior Gabriel Bortoleto, who was released for his Audi role, McLaren would be keen to retain control over the Italian.

It's a tricky situation for McLaren, because on one hand it is effectively training F1 calibre drivers for its rivals, but it also needs to cover itself in case something happens to its regular line-up in the future. That's why retaining control, and establishing the hypercar project as a possible outlet, is giving McLaren more driver flexibility.

But having run Fornaroli on a number of occasions, with another opportunity in FP1 this weekend aboard Oscar Piastri's MCL40, McLaren has been impressed enough to see Fornaroli as a potential F1 driver first and foremost.

"Leonardo is certainly an asset for Formula 1 in the future," said team boss Andrea Stella. "We want him to drive, certainly in the future he may drive for McLaren Racing, but I think we will work together with Leonardo to explore possibilities in Formula 1."

Whichever way Haas decides to go, from keeping Ocon to going for a hotshot rookie, it appears in no rush to make a decision given the state of F1's driver market as a whole.

Until Max Verstappen formally confirms he will stay at Red Bull as is widely expected, none of the other dominoes will be able to fall. That also means Haas doesn't have full visibility yet on whether any established veterans from other teams might suddenly become available as a left-field option.

Watch this space…

It might be a while yet before Haas announces its 2027 pairing

Photo by: Guido De Bortoli / LAT Images via Getty Images