After his clash with Gasly and his abandonment, the Norman found himself more and more lonely in the French team.
Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly will not go on vacation together. So far nothing new. But the complicated relationship between the two Alpine drivers may have taken a new turn this Sunday at the end of the Monaco Grand Prix. Or earlier at the very beginning, when Ocon, 11th on the grid, attempted a somewhat kamikaze maneuver before the tunnel to overtake his friend, one place in front of him at the start. Result, a collision, time spent off the radar before the most spectacular crash between Sergio Perez and the Haas, an abandonment, and an inevitably deleterious situation on the Alpine wall.
Bad luck for Ocon, but a happy coincidence for the broadcaster and its viewers, Bruno Famin, the boss of Alpine Motorsports, was in direct line with Canal+ throughout the Monaco weekend. “Esteban’s attack was completely out of circumstancereacted quickly to the former boss of the Endurance sector at Alpine. It’s sad, it’s exactly what we didn’t want to see and we will draw the consequences.” Atmosphere. On the airwaves of his radio communications, Gasly was mad with rage.
A good two hours later, the other Norman in the team, who will save a good point (10th) for a team in great difficulty this season (8th among the manufacturers), will follow in his boss’s footsteps. “This should never happen, let alone between teammates. We had fairly clear instructions at the start of the race. There was clearly no point in attacking like that, in taking so many risks. We should have ended up with both cars,” will coldly regret the person concerned at the microphone of Canal+with a smile regained thanks to the victory of his great friend Charles Leclerc.
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Suspension in Montreal?
And Ocon in all this? Public apologies, then private, in the privacy of the stable. “Today’s incident is my fault, the gap was too small and I apologize to the team», he wrote on social networks. Still, his days seem numbered at Alpine, where he has entered his last year of contract, after four years of highs (first victory in Budapest in 2022, podium in Monaco in 2023) and lows, where he is often seen in battle with his teammates (Fernando Alonso and now Gasly).
Read alsoFormula 1: Ocon apologizes after his clash with Gasly
«We are going to decide in the vif,” promised Famin, a black look on Canal+. From there to dismiss the native of Evreux more quickly? According to information from Sky sports, a suspension during the next Montreal GP (June 9, where he will be penalized by five places on the grid following his incident in Monaco) cannot be ruled out. “If he has to sideline Esteban Ocon for a week to demonstrate that team discipline is placed above all else, he is willing to do so, but the decision has not yet been made», we indicate at Sky. In this hypothesis, the Australian Jack Doohan, Alpine reserve driver looked after by Mark Webber, is ready.
A rebound at Haas in the pipeline
A suspension, or rather a punishment if necessary, would necessarily mark a decisive turning point in the relationship between the Norman and Alpine. And such an outcome would bring the end of the French adventure closer for the former Racing Point driver, who certainly did not wait for this bad patch to evaluate his options for next year. Once announced on the side of Sauber (Audi in 2026), the person concerned could instead bounce back on the side of Haas, which has a seat vacated by Nico Hülkenberg, leaving for… Sauber.
«If someone comes to see us, is interested in us, I will not close the door. Esteban (Ocon) is one of them, but one among many», Recently declared Ayao Komatsu, the boss of the American team. See you in a few weeks for the “silly season”, the summer break where negotiations are going well behind the scenes.
