Alpine Under Fire for Wasting Esteban Ocon’s “Talent” by Promoting Strange Practices

To say that Alpine‘s 2023 season was a rollercoaster ride would be an understatement. The unpredictable performance of the A523 is a reflection of Alpine’s standing in the points table. They have moved down two places from 2022 to 6th place. However, it’s the off-track drama that unfolded within the team that revealed the cracks in the team’s foundation. And now, Eddie Jordan has finally opened up about the strange things going on with the team as he calls out the Enstone-based squad for wasting the undeniable talent of Esteban Ocon.

In recent times, Alpine has seen a huge shakeup in its leadership team, with team principal Otmar Szafnauer and sporting director Alan Permane making hasty exits during the Belgian Grand Prix weekend. This follows a trend of departures in the last 18 months, with key figures like Pat Fry, Laurent Rossi, Fernando Alonso, and Oscar Piastri also leaving the team. The departures, seemingly orchestrated by Renault CEO Luca de Meo, raise questions about the team’s stability.

Eddie Jordan blames Alpine’s closed-door secrecy for wasting the talent of Esteban Ocon

The storm brewing at Alpine has caught the attention of Eddie Jordan, who didn’t hold back in his recent commentary on the ‘Formula For Success’ podcast. Jordan, a former team owner and a respected figure in Formula 1, spoke about Alpine’s abrupt management changes and their limited approach to team dynamics. His argument revolves around the team’s reluctance to embrace external influences, which, according to Jordan, is hampering the success of the talented Esteban Ocon.

“In recent times it’s a long time since they won, and they need to reach out,” said Jordan. “I really don’t know what the makeup was. I thought they were coming to a stage where they were actually going to impart good continual success. And then they changed the total management and you know, I was very disappointed at that. But that’s what they did. Esteban Ocon was unlucky in a way when he was at Force India.“

“I love them there because I was super involved in the team at that stage. Andy Stevenson and myself used to sit back and think about who could be better than Ocon, and he was a very talented, very very quiet man. But the whole team is too much into itself. They don’t open the doors out, they don’t put their arms, they don’t embrace other people and other sponsors and other guests. And I remember we were at the opposite end of that,” he added.

“It looks as if Alpine almost closed the door. They don’t want that. They don’t want the intrusion, they don’t want the questions being fired at them. It’s difficult to get a one-on-one interview with them, David, it’s just impossible. It’s the only team in the paddock that that’s the case,“ Jordan concluded.

READ MORE: Esteban Ocon Follows Max Verstappen and Fernando Alonso to Join the Le Mans Hype Train

Despite everything going on with the team, Esteban Ocon remains focused on a formidable comeback in the 2024 Formula 1 season as he sends a warning to the whole grid.

Ocon declares he will be in war mode for 2024

Ocon, after a decent performance in 2022, faced a challenging 2023 campaign where he was outperformed by teammate Pierre Gasly. However, in a recent interview with GP Blog, he issued a warning to his competitors by pledging to switch to “war mode” in 2024.

Reflecting on the highs and lows of 2023, Esteban Ocon highlighted the team’s inconsistency and a string of nine DNFs as major setbacks. “If you remove the issues we had with the gearbox in Singapore and the contact with Oscar in Austin, we could have been in the top 10 in the championship. So that’s where it’s really a bit of a wasted opportunity,” he explained.

Ocon’s determination to bounce back is evident in his rigorous pre-season training schedule. “I think the 17th of December, that’s when I will restart training. Almost a week. Then from the 2nd of Jan until the first test, I will be back fully into training camp. I’m going to be doing it the way I was doing in 2022, which is no life, flat out, only racing,“ Ocon declared.

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Do you think Alpine is spiraling down into a mess it created itself? Can they bounce back to the best-of-the-rest position in 2024? Share your thoughts and predictions down below in the comments.