“Can’t Let Myself Down”: Esteban Ocon Refuses to Help His Penalty-Ridden Alpine Teammate Fernando Alonso at Miami GP

The Alpine F1 returned to base with Esteban Ocon scoring 4 points, but they could have scored more with Fernando Alonso also finishing in the top 10. But Ocon didn’t follow team plans to help Alonso score points.

The Frenchman had a poor qualifying after his FP3 crash, and he could not participate in the qualifying. So, he had to start from the back of the grid. Meanwhile, two-time world champion teammate Alonso started in P11 and finished the race in P8.

However, during the race, Alonso received a 5-second time penalty for the collision with AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly. So, the Alpine team asked Ocon to slow down the cars behind him and help the Spaniard have a 5 second gap at the back.

Alpine asked Ocon, “We need a margin of seconds for Fernando, who has a penalty, slow down the cars behind, please. Do it now, please do it.“

READ MORE: “We are as Frustrated as He is”: Alpine F1 Reacts to Fernando Alonso’s Substandard Miami GP Outing

However, the French refused to follow the team’s strategy. To which his engineer told him that it was an order.

But Ocon again refused to help Alonso get a 5-second gap at the back. Instead, Ocon said to his team over the radio, “They’re going to overtake me if I do that! I can’t let myself down, guys, it’s not possible, I say it.“

Esteban Ocon happy with the P8 in Miami

The Frenchman had a terrible crash during the FP3 in Miami, and his car was destroyed. So, the driver had to start from the back of the grid. Naturally, Ocon had a lot of positions to recover. And the 25-year-old managed to finish in the top 10.

But the Frenchman was feeling exhausted after just ten laps because of Miami’s heat and from the crash’s injuries in FP3. So, him managing to finish P8 was no less than a race win.

Ocon reported after the race, “From there on, I think it is a victory for us because everything was perfect, from strategy calls to tyre choices to the pace also was very strong on the hard tyres for a very long time. So, awesome, great job, guys – I owe them one.”

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Currently, Ocon is P9 in the drivers’ standings with 24 points. The next race for the Frenchman is the Spanish GP which is the home race for his Spanish teammate Alonso. Let’s see how the Alpine duo performs in the upcoming race in Barcelona.