"Shameful, absolutely shameful": Alpine faces backlash from fans for swapping places between Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly

F1 fans were left raging after the Alpine F1 team praised Esteban Ocon for playing the team game to help them secure a double-point finish at the 2024 Canadian GP. The French duo of Pierre Gasly and Ocon finished the race in P9 and P10 respectively to get the best result of the season for the Endstone-based team.

However, the path to the result was muddled as the French team instructed the departing Ocon to give up his P9 slot for his teammate so that Gasly could chase down Daniel Ricciardo for P8.

Gasly was unable to catch the Aussie driver and settled for P9 but Alpine never swapped back the positions and enforced team orders to Esteban Ocon to retain positions.

On their social media platform, the team celebrated their first double points of the season and wrote:

"Playing the team game. A huge thanks to @OconEsteban to help us bring home the three points."

F1 fans took to social media to share their reactions to Alpine's post on X, as they were left frustrated and angry.

"Shameless. Absolutely shameless," wrote a fan.

"After letting the press and the f1 world paint him as a bad teammate and team player you have the audacity to tweet this? I’m sorry admin but I can’t accept that," another user wrote.

Another fan asked:

"What happened to « we swap back if your teammate can’t overtake the car in front?"

"Shameless after how you left him to fend for himself when he got harassed. No team game from your side but you expect him to do it," mulled another fan.

Esteban Ocon gives his take on the 'nonsense' team orders in Montreal

Alpine F1 driver Esteban Ocon said the team's call for Pierre Gasly to catch Daniel Ricciardo was 'nonsense.'

Speaking to Sky Sports, the French driver said (via Crash.net):

“I got the instructions to let Pierre pass with two laps to go to catch Daniel [Ricciardo] who was two and a half seconds in front and too fast for us. So the call was nonsense. I’ve done my part of the job, which is being a team player."

"I’ve always respected the instructions I’ve been given. It’s always been the case and I’ve never done anything different in my career. I’ve done my part of the job and not the team today, and it is very sad," he added.

With his P9 in the Canadian GP, Pierre Gasly overtook Esteban Ocon in the driver's championship after his back-to-back points finish, taking his tally to three compared to Ocon's two.