As Civil War Rumors Surface, Esteban Ocon Breaks Silence on Chaotic Crash With Pierre Gasly During Albert Park Mayhem

The way to prevent war is to bend energy towards preventing it, not to proceed by the dubious indirection of preparing for it. A chaotic restart at Albert park led to Pierre Gasly crashing into his teammate Esteban Ocon. With both Alpines running well inside the Top 10, a crash like this is bound to give birth to civil war rumors at Alpine. Esteban Ocon has come forward, breaking the silence about the Albert park mayhem and speaking up on the civil war rumors.

Kevin Magnussen crashed on Lap 54, which led to a safety car. A Red Flag followed on Lap 55, because of the crash’s debris. FIA and race control decided to restart the race, which meant it was going to be a 2 lap super showdown. With everyone on fresh rubber and a standing start, places were there to be made. However, what followed was nothing short of chaos. Carlos Sainz tried passing Fernando Alonso on the inside of turn 1. Unfortunately, Sainz was carrying way too much speed and hit Alonso’s right rear, causing the Aston Martin driver to spin around. Pierre Gasly who was right behind this tangle, out-braked himself and took to the gravel to avoid the mayhem.

Gasly joined the track back in a dangerous manner in desperation to keep his position. However, the Alpine driver forgot to check his rearview mirrors amongst all the things happening around him. He crashed into his teammate, pushing Esteban Ocon into the outside wall after turns 1 and 2. The crash was severe and led to both the Alpines retiring. Despite Gasly’s error in judgment, Esteban Ocon has come out forgiving his teammate, suggesting the fact that it could’ve been anyone pointing fingers toward the chaotic restart. 

According to Skysports.com, Esteban Ocon said “After the chaotic restart it could have been anyone I collided with – a lot of cars were going off.” He added, “It ended up being Pierre not leaving me much space but no hard feelings. He came and apologized and, as I say, it could have been anyone.”

Also Read: Carlos Sainz’s Debatable Move Against Fernando Alonso Puts Long Time Friendship in Jeopardy: “Karma Working Overtime”

Many drivers, including Max Verstappen and Fernando Alonso, raised concerns regarding the deployment of the Red Flag. Both the Alpines were in points position before the crash. Gasly was running P5, and a podium was not that far away from his sight. 

What was Pierre Gasly’s race like before the crash?

The Frenchman was running P5 behind Carlos Sainz for the majority of the race after the first Red Flag. Fernando Alonso running P3 was in sight only a couple of second ahead whilst Gasly was enjoying the advantage of 4 DRS zones comfortably sitting behind Sainz. Pierre Gasly mentioned in the post-race interview his car’s pace was up there with the Ferrari and Aston Martin.

According to skysports.com, Pierre Gasly said, “I didn’t expect to be in such a position so running in P5 was a nice surprise. I gave everything out there, I was racing with the Ferrari, had (Fernando) Alonso in my sights for the majority of the race.” Further adding, “It is extremely frustrating because we had good pace – similar to the Aston Martins and Ferrari – and could have been much further up.“

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Do you think Pierre Gasly could have finished on the podium had the crash not taken place?