PORTIMAO — Rafael Camara's performance in a Testing of Previous Cars outing at Portimao secured his Formula 1 debut with Haas in 2027, with team principal Ayao Komatsu calling the 21-year-old Brazilian the clear choice to replace the outgoing Esteban Ocon. The current Formula 2 championship leader beat reigning F2 champion Leonardo Fornaroli and Haas reserve drivers Jack Doohan and Ryo Hirakawa in a shootout assessment in previous F1 machinery at Portugal's Portimao circuit in August.
Speaking to media including Crash.net shortly after the announcement on Thursday, Komatsu said Camara won on outright performance. "He was the quickest. That was a very simple answer. Definitely, yeah. He was impressive," Komatsu said. "I always said we were going to choose a driver by performance, and then through those evaluations, it was Rafa just showed incredible speed and feel. So that was the fully overriding factor above everything else."
Komatsu said Haas's relationship with Ferrari gave the team access to Ferrari Driver Academy talents, as it did with Ollie Bearman in Mexico FP1, which led to six FP1 outings and a race seat for 2025. He said Haas had tracked Camara's qualifying form in Monaco and Montreal this year before the Portimao test. "Then in the Portimao TPC test, he was just simply outstanding," Komatsu said, adding that natural speed and feel cannot be taught. He noted Camara's race craft and tyre management can still improve, but his calm, professional judgment through changing track temperature, wind and tyre vibration issues stood out.
Camara is set to partner Briton Ollie Bearman, who is expected to continue with Haas for a third season in 2027, with both drivers members of the Ferrari driver academy. Komatsu described the potential as "equally exciting" to Bearman's emergence, but different in detail. He said Bearman impressed with his understanding of his role in Mexico, while Camara impressed by judging grip as conditions changed "every minute, every lap" and by creating an environment to focus on execution rather than the shootout outcome.
The confirmation follows Brazilian Rafael Camara to Join Haas for 2027 F1 Debut and locks in an all-Ferrari academy lineup for the American team as it looks to develop Camara's raw speed into consistent race performance.