Alpine has just played a masterstroke to ensure Esteban Ocon sticks with the team till the end of 2024. The French outfit risked losing the ’21 Hungarian GP winner to Williams Racing. As Ocon’s contract with his current team is going to run out after this season’s Abu Dhabi GP, he has had some talks with the stakeholders of other teams. Among his potential options, Williams’ name has come up quite a few times.

The Grove outfit has shown interest in the Évreaux native as its Team Principal James Vowles talked to Ocon at the British GP. With a total of 4 Championship points to its name, Williams is currently second-last on the Championship table. Interestingly, all those 4 points came from Alex Albon while the legacy team’s other recruit, Logan Sargeant, has failed to score at any of the 12 F1 races that have taken place this year. Due to the poor performance of the American racer, Vowles now wants to prematurely end his contract to take up Ocon midway through the season.

Now, Alpine sits right above Williams on the current score sheet and if the French team allows its recruit to drive for Vowles’ army, it might lose its position. To avoid giving its direct competitor an obvious advantage, Alpine has refused to let Esteban Ocon leave the team in mid-2024. Thus, even though the 27-year-old was done with the initial conversation regarding his Williams move, he needs to wait before he can move to the team to take the seat beside Alex Albon. According to The God Flores, Alpine’s Director Bruno Famin had previously accepted Ocon’s plan of moving to Williams by swapping him with Jack Doohan. However, ahead of the Hungarian GP, Famin has said “No” to the proposal after reviewing the Championship positions of the two teams in question.

While Esteban Ocon seems to have one foot out the Alpine door, the Enstone outfit has already started looking for his replacement. Amongst the options available to the team, it seems Carlos Sainz is the frontrunner since the Spaniard’s deal with Ferrari is coming to an end in 2024. What did the existing Alpine racer, Pierre Gasly, say about his team’s efforts to lure in Sainz for next year’s F1 Championship campaign?

Pierre Gasly teases Alpine’s “three good options” for next year

While Esteban Ocon is leaving Alpine, the French outfit has quite a few racers to pick a replacement from. Ahead of the British GP, Alpine roped in Mick Schumacher from its Endurance Championship team and Jack Doohan from its reserve squad to participate in a test drive. But even before considering those two young talents, Carlos Sainz’s name has come up for the Alpine authorities. The Spaniard has won 3 Grands Prix till now and is one of the most in-demand racers in the drivers’ market for 2025.

Once Pierre Gasly renewed his Alpine contract, he became vocal about wanting to partner up with Carlos Sainz. He recently talked to the media expressing his wishes to welcome the #55 driver to the French outfit, saying, “I think Alpine has good options on the table. At the end of the day, it’s not up to me, I welcome the fastest guy out there. We all know who it is.” And when interviewers asked if Gasly ever went to convince Sainz to consider a move to Alpine, he said, “I did my fair share of the job!”

Now that all is said and done, Carlos Sainz might declare his move to Alpine at any moment. In fact, other racers on the grid, like Zhou Guanyu, have even expressed their confusion over what is making the Spaniard delay his move. However, amidst the roiling rumors regarding his future in Formula 1, Sainz has stayed eerily silent. Do you think the Ferrari racer will make a big announcement before the summer break kicks off or after it? Share your guesses in the comments below.