Esteban Ocon’s shocking Alpine exit could be the first step in the struggling team’s rebuilding efforts. But the timing of this announcement hinted at the Monaco GP tensions spilling over in an ugly way. Ocon’s unnecessary collision with teammate Pierre Gasly had caused a stir within the Enstone outfit. But according to Sky Sports F1 pundit Craig Slater, the real motive arises from a deeper place.

In Lap 1 of the Monaco GP, Ocon disobeyed team orders to attempt a risky overtake on Gasly. The ensuing collision damaged his A524, ruling him out of the race. Fortunately, Gasly could continue, securing Alpine’s first points of 2024, with a P10 finish. Team Principal Bruno Famin, however, was fuming at Ocon’s move, threatening “consequences” for the same. But the 26-year-old’s exit announcement, however untimely, is not the consequence.

“I’m told that it (Ocon’s exit) has nothing to do with that (Monaco GP collision),” Slater told Sky Sports. “This would’ve happened, anyway. The advice I’m being given is the relationship between him and the team has come to a natural end. He had been there for 5 years, which is a long time in F1 terms,” he added. “He’d won a race with them in Hungary in 2021. But the team isn’t in the position he expects it to be.”

Slater further analyzed the situation, saying that the Enstone outfit needs a new driver as a catalyst to end their slump. “Maybe the team needs a bit of freshness and new direction from another driver coming in,” he concluded. A new driver’s arrival would also end the heightened animosity that the current drivers shared.

For Alpine and Bruno Famin, they will eventually sign a new driver from the vast talent pool. But according to Slater, this could be the last year Esteban Ocon has been in F1.

Most F1 teams’ doors are “closed” for Esteban Ocon

Ocon has been known to be more self-serving than team-playing ever since he joined F1. He has rarely gotten along with his teammate and the several counts of intra-team collisions underline that. Williams TP James Vowles also ruled the Frenchman out of his 2025 shortlist to replace Logan Sargeant, owing to that. Like him, several others seemed to have followed suit. “It’s difficult for Ocon,” Slater said.

“He is managed, to a degree, by Toto Wolff, the Team Principal for Mercedes. But if Wolff wanted to put him in that seat replacing Lewis Hamilton, that would already have happened. I’ve been doing my rounds and finding, pretty much, that most of the doors seem closed for Esteban Ocon,“ he further added. The Frenchman came from a very humble background, with his father, a mechanic, selling their childhood home and his garage to support his racing dream.

If what Slater says is true, even though Ocon has the talent, the absence of a soft skill could end his F1 career. What’s your take on this? Share your thoughts in the comments.