"Alpine was not pleased": F1 pundit on why Esteban Ocon and the team parted ways

F1 pundit Fred Ferret feels that the Alpine F1 team were not pleased with Esteban Ocon searching for other seats on the grid for the 2025 season. The Endstone-based outfit and the French driver recently announced they would amicably part ways at the end of the 2024 season.

The 2021 Hungarian GP winner was part of the French team for five years. He secured three podiums for them in Sakhir 2020, and Monaco 2023 apart from his victory in Hungary.

Ocon has also come under fire recently for his partnership with fellow Frenchman and teammate Pierre Gasly after they collided in Monaco a couple of weeks back.

While appearing on the F1 Nation podcast, Ferret of Le'Equipe mentioned that Esteban Ocon's desire to leave Alpine might have also played a role in his exit. He said:

"Maybe Esteban has already worked heavily on finding other seats and Alpine was not pleased and we can see since the beginning of the French couple it hasn't worked well not at all.

"Especially in these days where every one of them has to prove to the whole world that he deserves a seat for next year they are fighting like hell but they don't have a car to fight. So when you are only 12 or even 19 it's difficult to move ahead on the grid, so they're maybe overdriving sometimes and that's why they're making mistakes." (2:03)

---

F1 pundit gives his take on Esteban Ocon's future in F1

Sky Sports F1 commentator David Croft stated that Esteban Ocon had been in contact with other teams on the grid, such as Haas F1.

While appearing on the Sky Sports F1 podcast, Croft pointed out that the 27-year-old had the potential to stay in the sport, saying:

"Esteban Ocon is a really truly lovely human being, I've got a lot of time for him, but he does have these moments with his team-mates, and it doesn't necessarily do his CV any favors.

"He has been talking to other teams, so it's not that we are definitely going to lose Ocon from Formula 1. I hope we don't; there is potential out there for him. He certainly is on the shortlist for Haas along with a number of other drivers as well."

The Brit also hinted that Ocon's been "talking up other series, and that didn't come as much of a surprise as well in the [Monaco] press conference."

The Alpine driver remains a key player in the market this season and is reportedly on the shortlist of the only American team on the grid with some hinting of an outside chance of Audi as well.

Esteban Ocon will be replaced by reserve driver Jack Doohan for the FP1 session in Canada as the Aussie is a prime target of the team to take his seat next year.