Esteban Ocon collided with his teammate Pierre Gasly on the first lap of the Monaco GP. Subsequently, Alpine team principal Bruno Famin addressed the incident as he told reporters in Monaco that Ocon would face “appropriate consequences“, which some interpreted as the French driver being dropped for the ninth race of the season. Though Ocon will still be racing in Canada, he won’t be racing for the team next year. Understand why this happened as F1 Experts dissect Esteban Ocon’s exit from Alpine and his future.
Esteban Ocon and constructor Alpine agreed to part ways at the end of the 2024 season. The French constructor and the French driver announced the same on Monday in a statement. Subsequently, there has been a lot of speculation as to what the future holds for Ocon. The hosts of the Sky Sports F1 podcast discussed Esteban Ocon’s “mentality” considering this season with 16 races still left. Will he pay the team game “even less” now?
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Despite all the conjectures, Esteban Ocon looked back at his half-a-decade-long spell in gratitude.
Esteban Ocon reflects on his association with Alpine
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In 2018, Esteban Ocon found himself out of an F1 seat as he was replaced by Lance Stroll. He had to spend a year on the bench for Mercedes to be recruited by Alpine later. He then spent five years at the French outfit Renault-Alpine. However, Ocon’s association with the Enstone-based team goes way back and despite their parting ways, the 27-year-old driver expressed his gratitude, also stating his plans will be announced in due course.
In a heartfelt statement, Ocon reflected on his time with Alpine: “It’s been a significant period of my life to be racing at this team in Formula 1. While I’ve been here for five years as a full-time racing driver, my professional career started at Enstone back when I was a teenager, so it will always be a special place for me.”
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Ocon expressed gratitude for the support and experiences he has had with the team and hinted at plans that are yet to be disclosed. “We have had some great moments together, some tough moments as well, and I am certainly grateful to everyone in the team for these memorable times. I will announce my plans very soon but, in the meantime, my full focus is on delivering on track for this team and having a successful remainder of the season.”
Where do you think Esteban Ocon will end up?