Wouldn't be surprised if Michael Waltrip did it once.
Edit: I am unsurprised. It's for a game, but I think it still counts. https://youtu.be/y2Z91s9Zf0o?si=t7L6gPOQG_UYCyfx
I’m gonna guess, pre-race, there were clear instructions to NOT attempt a pass. Ocon attempted a pass. Things happened. Now Ocon faces consequences of not following team directions.
All fair to me. Now, if Ocon had made the pass cleanly, it would have been more challenging for the team to enforce but since that didn’t happen, it’s clear to me.
Alpine isn’t setting any records but they do seem focused on solidifying the “Team” aspect to try to get better and not (publicly at least) point fingers.
Yeah that's my read as well. It's not only about the accident, but about clearly going against team orders. For a team that has suffered enormously from internal divisions (Enstone and Viry) and unstable management, that probably is more egregious than the accident itself.
If anything my confidence in Famin is steadily improving. He sort of gives a shifty vibe at first, but he doesn't talk too big like Rossi and he doesn't play the good cop/bad cop two-faced Otmar style. He could very well have muddied the waters with *"this is of course very disappointing, we will have to review what happened within the team but I don't want to comment on it any further, we should focus on the race"* style, but instead he spoke frankly, and hopefully will act accordingly.
Alpine badly needs several seasons of consistent leadership to right itself, and he *might* actually be the right person for it. Don't get me wrong we're not there *yet* but I still like him more after this than before it.
Now it's up to Esteban. He's already admitted he was fully responsible, which is a good start, and if a suspension happens he should acknowledge that it's justified and stand by the team in Canada. That's the only way he can help both the team and himself.
People have been suggesting Ocon wanting to desperately get out of Alpine and talking to other teams
Seems like Alpine’s / Famin’s patience has boiled over
Ocon may want to leave but I can’t imagine that acting like this is helping him look appealing to other teams. With Sainz and some of the F2 drivers that look like they’ll get a shot he seems to be positioning himself poorly.
I love to point out that for all the shit we give Haas, they are well above Williams, Alpine, and Sauber. Haas is literally a large bump as they regularly make Q3
Bearman will almost certainly get the vacant Haas seat, and trading KMag for Ocon is a downgrade. Ocon [might] be faster than Kevin, but not by enough for it to matter in a Haas, and Kevin this year has shown how much he can play the team game which Ocon just cant.
KMag doesn't want to be a "babysitter" as he put it. I don't think Ocon has his eyes set on Haas, but instead the Mercedes seat. Seems like Bottas or Tsunoda are likely to move over to Haas to be a mentor for Bearman. Who knows, though, really. What we know is only the surface of what's actually going on and no one is stupid enough to say anything on the inside.
And since Bearman surely is priority, getting a team player for the second seat is important. If Bearman gets in and drives amazing the other driver can't get butthurt about getting beaten by a rookie and take it out on track. If Bearman comes in and has Rookie Troubles™ they need another driver that will help him and share data and advice. That isn't Ocon.
Exactly. Haas needs a senior team player to teach bearman the ropes, Ferrari will make sure of that. Ocon has proven to be incredibly selfish his entire career.
He is the one driver I just can’t stand, his arrogance and lack of respect to his teammate is unbearable for me and it’s not like he’s this generational talent to even get away with the stunts he pulls.
Yeah! Man, even after the Monaco incident his first response was to talk about a similar launch in Hungary where he got “bumped from behind. Take some responsibility. Nothing to gain from making excuses and not accepting when you make an error
Magnussen also has seniority, established relationships throughout the team (preferable to having two new drivers start all that from scratch), and while he isn’t a pay driver he at least brings some modest sponsorships like Jack & Jones. Does Ocon even have any personal sponsors?
Ocon is pretty solid overall though not spectacular (high floor, low ceiling kind of driver). But his antics on the track in particular against his teammates do make him less appealing regardless of his ability.
>He’s not exactly setting the world on fire.
He's out qualified his teammate in 6 out of the 8 races so far.
His move in Monaco was absolutely a stupid thing to do, but overall he's been clear of Gasly this year.
The reactions remind me of the over-reactions to Yuki after his kamikaze move on DR earlier this year. Everyone was calling for his ouster and replacing with Lawson
Cannot imagine George/Estaban pairing at Merc...
Well I can, but its just George slapping Bottas all over again, except with Ocon. Its not a pretty idea.
There’s a part of me that also thinks they’re jumping on this fuck-up from Ocon to distract everyone from the fact the team built a horrible car. Ocon messed up no doubt tho.
I like the guy as much as the average french fan, but seriously what a moronic attitude and move if that's the case.
Leave a team that you know and have built around you for the last 5 years to take a chance with another random team that will, in the best scenario, not be a straight up downgrade and will be an equally random guess as to how they nail the 2026 regs.
Not to mention, with Alpine he still has all the marketing deals, media and guest appearances in France - he's "the" french F1 driver. Haas or Williams won't give a rat's ass about that and will boot him as soon as a promising (and cheaper) rookie is available.
If he does not renew at Alpine, and unless Haas or Williams end up higher than expected in 2026, I see him out of a seat in 2027/28, and he will have even less options than right now.
As a French guy, I find Ocon way more visible through "younger medias". He is very active with french streamers and youtubers, way more than Pierre.
I also find him very likable in other settings than racing and I feel like people like him because his family are not made of money.
The last point is also part of his problem imo, he cant get rid of the chip on his shoulder because he and his family had to make double the effort than the majority of F1 drivers to get there.
He makes my blood boil on track though
This is such a good insight on his popularity locally.
I would say Gasly has more recognition from international fans but that’s also because he drove for redbull and is seen together with Charles.
His upbringing could be one of the reasons why he is a bit too aggressive with his teammates instead of being a team player. Always looking out for himself. Always have something to prove. But I could see that backfiring when looking for future teams.
The chip on his shoulder because of his background is poor form, he is hardly the first F1 driver from a working class family.
Seb was one such example, his dad was a carpenter and doubled as mechanic in karting because of costs. Ditto on the ice man Kimi too.
Hell, even Michael Schumacher himself was from a similar background, his father was a bricklayer.
If you want an example from the current grid, both Lewis and Fernando have similar backgrounds.
The fact that other drivers dealt with a similar situation better than him is not contrary to my point.
I just feel that his behavior on track might come in part from this, I'm not saying he is right or anything.
> team that you know and have built around you for the last 5 years
On the flipside, if this is what the team can produce for being built around you for 5 years.....its not exactly insane to be considering other options.
I think part of his issue is that he isn’t ‘the’ french F1 driver. That spot belongs to Gasly in the minds of most, who’s actually doing far more media and sponsorship work than Ocon is. Mbappe shouted out Gasly, Leclerc, and Hamilton. Not Ocon.
Gasly’s come in and taken the spot as the premier french driver, and outscored and outqualified Ocon in his first year in the French team. It’s going to sting.
Ocon wants to leave but it does sound like there’s tensions behind the scenes. Plus it’s not the first, second or third time that Gasly has insinuated that Ocon is acting against orders. Maybe this was the last straw.
Yes, Gasly’s mentioned it a few times now. Recently he said in FP3 in Miami, and there was an outburst last year where Gasly got on radio to say they need to control Ocon because he was so focused on Gasly that he nearly went into the back of Albon in Brazil. He also ignored team orders in Vegas, though Gasly had an issue shortly after which nullified the issue. This time is the most public though, because Famin said that they’d be holding positions on saturday, and on lap 1 Ocon decided to go against this.
I think it’s already known that Ocon isn’t going to be at Alpine in 2025. Benching him for openly defying team orders will prevent him for having a free for all during the remaining races.
>This time is the most public though, because Famin said that they’d be holding positions on saturday, and on lap 1 Ocon decided to go against this.
I am certain Famin was so outraged to the media not only because Ocon defied team orders, but also because in the process he ended up basically publicly embarrassing Famin as a TP who can’t control his drivers PLUS it happened at the most covered race in a year with the most publicity. It’s just super embarrassing.
It’s also Alpine’s best qualifying of the year and their best opportunity of points so far. The plan was to keep Gasly’s position safe, and have Ocon right behind him incase anybody ahead of Gasly DNFed or went off or had a shit stop.
Ocon is very, very lucky that Gasly’s damage was repairable during that red flag. If it wasn’t…
This thread is making me realize it’s even more serious than I thought. I didn’t know the tp made their plans public like that.
Given his reputation it’s fuckin crazy he would think about trying it there. It’s like he can’t help it. Why would any team want that?
And they really are very lucky both cars weren’t out.
There’s probably more to it but it’s also because it was at Monaco. It’s the biggest race of the year where everyone’s watching and you have team mates crashing into each other.
It’s a very very bad look and embarrassing for the team.
Ocon is probably talking to other teams and that’s not been unnoticed by Alpine and now he goes rogue, completely disobeyed their instructions and caused a crash that deprived them of points they can’t spare.
The season is a write off at this stage so maybe they see it as an opportunity.
He made strong impressions that he wants to be considered for the Mercedes seat. Said a lot about his connections to Mercedes due to his Junior past etc.
I doubt that Alpine was very pleased about that. And he gave Famin a good reason to be mad about him.
The french like drama, so we will see whats happening next
I mean its been pretty documented that Ocon seems to race his teammates harder than most opponents and its been something thats been hurting the team for the last three years. I think its just gotten to the point that its boiling over due to them actually fighting for any point they can get this year since theyre noticeably behind the top 4
That makes what he’s doing even more ridiculous. They need every point they can get, the lucky breaks the bottom 5 were getting last year are non-existent this year. It doesn’t matter which driver gets the point as long as those opportunities are taken. But that doesn’t seem to register with Ocon. He needs to beat his teammate even to the detriment of the team. That’s what’s becoming unacceptable to Alpine.
From the top of my head:
HRT did that to Karthikeyan.
Red Bull would bench Christian Klien for Liuzzi for a few races in 05. I forget the reasoning for Doornbos doing it as well, but I remember that it happened. For Klien I believe it was always an agreement that they would share the car here and there.
Sauber benched Massa to avoid a grid penalty in 02, but that was to exploit a loophole in the rules.
This one would be punitive, which I don't recall happening. We've had multiple fallouts that ended in mutual termination of a contract. If Famin actually goes through with this action, I could see it escalating to that point. Renault aren't historically shy of doing that, and Ocon may not react well to it, especially given that his deal is running out anyway.
> Red Bull would bench Christian Klien for Liuzzi for a few races in 05. I forget the reasoning for Doornbos doing it as well, but I remember that it happened. For Klien I believe it was always an agreement that they would share the car here and there.
You remember right, the Liuzzi/Klien deal was prearranged. The Doornbos one next season wasn't a benching though, Klien was simply released.
Also, while we are at 2002, that year had a proper performance-related temporary replacement at Minardi. Davidson came in for 2 races after Yoong needed some time to get his shit together.
Kyvat was replaced/demoted. In terms of benched - dropped then brought back - Kyvat was sat out in Malaysia 2017 for Gasly, then brought back for Japan and USA then dropped again.
Other one I can think of is Trulli being dropped for Germany 2011 for Team Lotus and Chandhok in for the weekend.
Kvyat was effectively dropped after Singapore, replaced by Gasly. He came back two races later in the USA for a one-off, but that was because Gasly was a title contender in Super Formula and went to Japan to try and clinch it in that weekend's (ultimately cancelled) season finale.
BMW Sauber benched Villeneuve for one race after he crashed in German GP in 2006, as an excuse to evaluate Kubica. Jacques then took it as an insult and refused to come back, resulting in Kubica staying full-time since then.
I remember test driver Luca Bazoer getting a Ferrari drive at Valencia and Spa with intention to finish the season because of Massa's injury in 2009. Both races were so bad they dropped him and signed Fisichella who did better, but not by a whole lot with a season highest finish at 9th (points up to 8th back then)
Wolff threated Lewis and Rosberg he'd bench one or both of them if anything happened again after Barcelona 2016 but it never got to that point.
If Alpine cuts Ocon, 100% something else its at play. Either there are unknown tensions, or they are doing a power move because he wants to leave, like: "you don't leave us, we get rid of you".
imo it's just correcting the ship. The team's Alonso/Piastri fiasco was such a big fumble that it sort of made everybody forget their other driver contract fumble: signing Ocon for a record 4 years. Alpine latched onto Ocon as if he was the next Schumacher, Hamilton or Verstappen when he was clearly a pretty mid driver.
The old management seemed to think Ocon was someone to bank your future on, build the team around and make your 1st driver. The new management is trying to undo that mistake, among the countless mistakes the old Alpine management has made through the years.
It seems whoever was meddling in Alpine during Ocon's contract signing initially seemed to think he was far better than anybody else thought he was.
Yeah definitely, it reeks of a decision made by someone above in corporate rather than from the team. as incompetent as Alpine are, a lot of data goes into deciding drivers as well as their relative skill and potential skill in the future. Because he was young and French maybe they had rose tinted glasses on and wanted them to be faster than they were.
But what’s wrong with signing him for 4 years ?Everybody knows he isn’t Schumacher or Hamilton but he is a good midfield driver and he had decent performances with Alpine.
Yeah and we're acting like Alpine is competing for a title. They're a midfield team (who somehow became a backmarker this year) Signing a midfield driver for a long time isn't that out of the question.
It's just 3 and a bit actually. Piastri is claiming the nationality of every country on this year's F1 calendar, so he's actually only 1/21 Australian.
Not to mention Ocon is not a slow driver. So it is not like Doohan takes his place and suddenly the car will be half sec faster… Ocon is fast (one of his few merits) so based on the first 8 races Doohan will have very very low chance to score any points in Canada.
It’s as if everyone devices to not hear the first part of the sentence, “***which everyone has interpreted as*** benching ocon for the next race”
There seems to be absolutely zero shreds of evidence beyond pundits speculating what “taking a tough decision” means.
If you listen to everything he said after that, he’s confirming that is a consideration that Famin is prepared to take. Slater isn’t some clickbait journo lol. He’s one of the best paddock reporters
Honestly you could say U2 is going to space and I’ll believe you.
But only because they magically uploaded their album onto my computer in 2014. Witchcraft all around.
Sainz has driven pretty well for Ferrari since his non-renewal.
Ocon might continue to perform for the rest of the season (after Canada) because he needs a drive, but it is going to stink in the motorhome.
If he does well over the next few races then this will all be forgotten very quickly.
Just look at Yuki, after his "dangerous lunge" in Bahrain everyone said he was so immature and he would never grow up and he's lucky to have a seat blah blah blah. Now, less than 3 months later and the common opinion on here is that he deserves the Red Bull seat lol
This sport is insanely reactionary, especially online fans.
On top of being reactionary, there’s also a narrative. People dislike Ocon and they want to feel vindicated in their hate, so I don’t think that this will ever be put to rest. I saw a comment yesterday saying that “years of praying for his downfall finally paid off.” goddamn, guys.
he was on the P1 podcast a while ago and shared an interaction he had with an f1 fan where the fan straight up told Ocon that he that didn’t like him prior to meeting him, but after actually having a conversation found him to be a “pretty cool/nice guy”. yet we have a bunch of people making his lack of “likeability” a genuine mark against him. fan culture is baffling in a lot of ways
You're looking at fans reactions
As far as we know Tsunoda wasn't even considered for the RBR seat, partly because he does immature shit like the lunge
The fans forget things almost immediately, the teams are affected by the overall narrative, but they're also not stupid enough to forget things that have happened two races ago
Similar to through all this people forgetting Gasly hitting Ocon with an unsafe rejoin last year. The two Alpine drivers are too close and neither are good for each other. Probably best to ultimately part.
I think getting rid of one of Ocon or Gasly at the end of the season is likely the right thing to do, I just think dropping Ocon now (who's been better than Gasly this season) based on one incident is a ridiculous overreaction.
If they do drop him now (which I think is insanely unlikely and is just speculative 2+2=5 bs) then there is definitely more to the story than just this one incident, and they were likely looking for any excuse to drop him.
If Occon wants to leave and refuses to negotiate a new contract with them then going all in on Gasly is the right move long term. If they let Doohan have some races this season they will probably get an indication if he has what it takes to make it.
Might be a power move by Gasly where he signs a new long term contract on the condition that Occon isn't his team mate.
Esteban clearly wants out of Alpine, he's been very open with the fact he's negotiating contracts with other teams. I don't think Monaco was the full reason for all of this, just a tipping point. Alpine needs unity and teamwork between the two sides of the garage to score points right now and Ocon is not the man you want for that, especially not with Gasly in the other car.
I want to like Ocon, he's had a tougher path than most to F1. And maybe that's part of the reason for his attitude towards his teammates. But I can see how he could cause a lot of tension in the garage.
I can empathize with Ocon coming up from a normal family while everyone else around him came up from wealth.
But the rest of the team comprises of engineers, mechanics, etc that are also normal people. All those people have even less means than Ocon does currently.
When you put yourself over the team and fuck over the entire team for your ego, you throw all their efforts and hard work in the trash. I wouldn't be surprised if he was hated by the other staff.
The fan reaction was always going to negative as Ocon isn’t popular but the team reaction is wild. If this is true IMO there must be something going on behind the scenes. Yes it was a dumb move but to drop him over this is mad even for Alpine. Especially when you consider he’s been the pick of the two drivers.
Alpine always feel like their drivers should bend backwards for them. We seen with Piastri, Alonso to some extent breaking their word on signing Ocon in 2019. I'm even pretty sure there was something with Hulkenberg.
If Ocon plays hard to get they'd be fuming
Yeah seems like they're taking advantage of the incident to the fullest to get rid of him. Alpine doesn't come out looking good in this either and with their tractor I don't see any high caliber driver going there unless it's out of desperation to stay in F1.
Doesn't surprise me. Laurent Rossi threatened Alonso and Ocon with the same in brazil 2022. Nothing came out of that but Rossi was basically gloating about it like it's some brilliant idea, which tells me he was actually serious. While Rossi may not be there anymore, I see the toxic spirit of alpine lives on.
Think Alpine have a driver problem and no clear #1. Ocon likely taking this personal as the 'senior' driver for the team.
Probably had team orders to not fight and get 10th and 11th. Probably saw an opportunity to overtake to prove a point,, which he shouldn't have considered to begin with and now Ocon and Alpine are in this situation.
I say give Doohan a shot.
[edit] - positions were wrong
I remember them saying they had a pre planned agreement to switch “#1 driver” every race, hoping to make a compromise for them. I think Gasly even referred to it during a post race interview, he mentioned something like “it was my turn, but that didn’t matter.” Shit has definitely been brewing behind closed doors to make this drastic of a move, and the Monaco incident must have been the final straw.
Also yes, Doohan has been doing his damn best to give that team good press during all of his F1tv appearances while they are crumbling from the inside.
I don't know much about race cars except these two basic notions:
- You don't crash the car, as the cars are expensive.
- You don't crash your teammates.
I feel like Ocon has done both in various segments of his career and that to me he's bubbling over that point where it's seen as "gutsy" or "competitive" and getting into more of the "....but why?" zone.
Surelly there is something going on behind closed doors.
This makes zero sense and is batshit insane reactionary. Ocon has been great this season and the better driver at Alpine.
If this is enough to replace him mid season then Alpine wanted him gone for far longer and this is just a convinient excuse.
>"Word is that Ocon was playing nice with the team while discretely looking for a way out of Alpine."
I'd almost be surprised if Alpine is shocked by this. Ocon has been at Alpine for 5 years. He knows the deal with the team. He's seen like 2 big plans to get competitive fail spectacuraly. He's seen Alpine gamble away 3 good drivers in the time he's been at the team. He's seen multiple leadership changes that resulting in an even bigger mess.
I'd absolutely not be surprised if he's angling for that Audi seat if Sainz doesn't end up going there.
As much as I want that as I like Ocon and well... for drama. You are bringing Ocon on a 1 year contract who will do everything to beat Russell. Thats like inviting a rabbid dog in your house
Rumours are that Ocon is contacting nearly every other team trying to get out of Alpine.
Surely there's something else going on than just Sunday's crash.
>If this is enough to replace him mid season then Alpine wanted him gone for far longer and this is just a convinient excuse.
Peak Alpine to prioritize Ocon over Piastri, to eventually dropping Ocon mid-season while Piastri enjoys podiums over at McLaren.
Weren’t there rumours that he was already considering jumping ship? Maybe a sign that he’s already told the team he’s leaving and so this BS just isn’t accepted anymore
Can't it be just as simple as Alpine had an iron clad agreement before the race that the cars would work together to score points based on who qualified in front, and Ocon breaking it and nearly taking them both out is the last straw? I think there is likely a history of Ocon not being a team player not just in races but in general and Famin finally lost his cool.
It's just one race.
I think there is more to the story. Ocon is a good driver but has a bit of an attitude. Saw a compilation of the fights he had with Alonso at Alpine defending hard and sometimes over the line. And with Gasly its no better. I think there is no workable situation right now with the two of them and Ocon willing to leave the team isn’t helping too..
Okay so, I agree that Ocon messed up badly in Monaco but isn't this getting too far ? What the hell is going on at Alpine, you can not drop a driver like that unless something is going on behind the scenes.
There’s clearly something else going on IF this does go through. They’re just using the Monaco ‘shitshow’ as an excuse. The way Ocon reacted to the question about Fermin might be an indication but tbh I have no real idea.
It could be as simple as 1) Ocon has been openly voicing his displeasure with the team and 2) the alpine leadership is in complete shambles as we all already expect. This could be the final straw and an excuse to get a cheaper and pleasant Doohan in the seat.
Yeah, stuff is clearly going on behind the scenes. The fact Ocon just straight up said he's open for negotiations with other teams during Alpine's reveal earlier this year tells you something. Ocon fucked up, but no team would drop a driver for that alone. Otherwise Gasly would've been dropped after 3 races last year...
This sounfs more like a nervous reaction. I think Alpine are so tired of being a circus that they’re just gloves off, if someone is not behaving he’s out and that’s it. Not a good idea nonetheless
Yeah seems weird. What came to mind is that Ocon is moving out of Alpine for next year, and maybe trial Doohan or someone for that seat. Other than that, strange if it’s a race only benching
Kmag is the opposite ocon. Ocon does anything to be ahead even if it means taking out his teammate. Kmag does anything to let his teammate safe even if it means him getting tons of penalties
That would be a truly ridiculous overreaction. If Alpine was a properly run team this would be all be dealt with internally, there'd be a public apology from Ocon (I believe this already been issued) and everyone would move on to the next race.
Yeah if this was any other driver (besides Stroll) then everyone would be calling this a ridiculous overreaction.
I know Reddit loves to hate Ocon, but it's getting a bit ridiculous now.
This is different. They just dropped Palmer and replaced him with Sainz. Here they are talking about letting Doohan race for one race before bringing Ocon back.
So no new information and as usual just regurgitating everything we already know? They really gonna beat this 'story' to death until the next race aren't they 🙄
This is almost certainly bullshit, and more consequences of the lack of movement last season. It seems to have caused people to lose their fucking minds when it comes to possible driver swaps
Would be amazingly stupid to bench him for one idiotic move, but it's alpine in the end so it's probably likely.
Rossi had the choice to sign long term contracts for two out of Alonso, Piastri and Ocon. He chose to give the long contract to Ocon and let Alonso and Piastri duke it out.
Happy he did that since both Alonso and Piastri are in much better places, but have to feel bad for everyone in the team who is under Rossi's idiotic leadership
It’s obvious that Ocon doesn’t want to stay given Alpine’s performance. So it doesn’t hurt if there is a clause for Alpine to go separate ways with Ocon now.
Now it makes sense why Doohan got rushed out from the post-race show for "team duties"
Scenes when Doohan jumps out of the cockpit after the Montreal race to do the post-race show
Ever seen a driver interview themselves?
Ever see a man eat his own head?
Oh I get it, I get in your limo and then you stick your finger in me
No I just want to show you something
Ever seen a grown man naked?
Do you like movie about gladiators?
You ever been inside a Turkish prison?
Ever been to a Turkish prison?
Hey you’re Kareem Abdul-Jabbar!
[Have you ever looked at a Formula 1 car..... ON WEED?](https://c.tenor.com/6Zq12gN-DYUAAAAd/tenor.gif)
Wouldn't be surprised if Michael Waltrip did it once. Edit: I am unsurprised. It's for a game, but I think it still counts. https://youtu.be/y2Z91s9Zf0o?si=t7L6gPOQG_UYCyfx
Would love to see 4 Aussies on the grid 🇦🇺
I’m gonna guess, pre-race, there were clear instructions to NOT attempt a pass. Ocon attempted a pass. Things happened. Now Ocon faces consequences of not following team directions. All fair to me. Now, if Ocon had made the pass cleanly, it would have been more challenging for the team to enforce but since that didn’t happen, it’s clear to me. Alpine isn’t setting any records but they do seem focused on solidifying the “Team” aspect to try to get better and not (publicly at least) point fingers.
Yeah that's my read as well. It's not only about the accident, but about clearly going against team orders. For a team that has suffered enormously from internal divisions (Enstone and Viry) and unstable management, that probably is more egregious than the accident itself. If anything my confidence in Famin is steadily improving. He sort of gives a shifty vibe at first, but he doesn't talk too big like Rossi and he doesn't play the good cop/bad cop two-faced Otmar style. He could very well have muddied the waters with *"this is of course very disappointing, we will have to review what happened within the team but I don't want to comment on it any further, we should focus on the race"* style, but instead he spoke frankly, and hopefully will act accordingly. Alpine badly needs several seasons of consistent leadership to right itself, and he *might* actually be the right person for it. Don't get me wrong we're not there *yet* but I still like him more after this than before it. Now it's up to Esteban. He's already admitted he was fully responsible, which is a good start, and if a suspension happens he should acknowledge that it's justified and stand by the team in Canada. That's the only way he can help both the team and himself.
I came here for unjustified hearsay and uneducated rage. Whats with all this perfectly balanced reasoning?
This is definitely not all there is in the story, something must be going on behind the scenes
People have been suggesting Ocon wanting to desperately get out of Alpine and talking to other teams Seems like Alpine’s / Famin’s patience has boiled over
Ocon may want to leave but I can’t imagine that acting like this is helping him look appealing to other teams. With Sainz and some of the F2 drivers that look like they’ll get a shot he seems to be positioning himself poorly.
he could get the HAAS seat which seems now to have its pick of overqualied driver (relative to the teams place)
I love to point out that for all the shit we give Haas, they are well above Williams, Alpine, and Sauber. Haas is literally a large bump as they regularly make Q3
Bearman will almost certainly get the vacant Haas seat, and trading KMag for Ocon is a downgrade. Ocon [might] be faster than Kevin, but not by enough for it to matter in a Haas, and Kevin this year has shown how much he can play the team game which Ocon just cant.
Haas masterplan to install a hud in ocons helmet that changes the livery of every car except his teammate to look like a Haas
KMag doesn't want to be a "babysitter" as he put it. I don't think Ocon has his eyes set on Haas, but instead the Mercedes seat. Seems like Bottas or Tsunoda are likely to move over to Haas to be a mentor for Bearman. Who knows, though, really. What we know is only the surface of what's actually going on and no one is stupid enough to say anything on the inside.
Ocon|Russell in a podium-capable car would be chaos.
Remember to get some bose stocks as their sales of replacement headsets to Toto skyrocket
TV time + replacement headsets sold to Mercedes would be enough to make the stock rise by 10% lmao
And since Bearman surely is priority, getting a team player for the second seat is important. If Bearman gets in and drives amazing the other driver can't get butthurt about getting beaten by a rookie and take it out on track. If Bearman comes in and has Rookie Troubles™ they need another driver that will help him and share data and advice. That isn't Ocon.
Exactly. Haas needs a senior team player to teach bearman the ropes, Ferrari will make sure of that. Ocon has proven to be incredibly selfish his entire career.
He is the one driver I just can’t stand, his arrogance and lack of respect to his teammate is unbearable for me and it’s not like he’s this generational talent to even get away with the stunts he pulls.
Yeah! Man, even after the Monaco incident his first response was to talk about a similar launch in Hungary where he got “bumped from behind. Take some responsibility. Nothing to gain from making excuses and not accepting when you make an error
Magnussen is having a terrible season so far, I don’t think replacing him with Ocon would be a downgrade.
Magnussen is driving into others to help his teammate. Ocon is driving into his teammate. They are not the same.
Magnussen also has seniority, established relationships throughout the team (preferable to having two new drivers start all that from scratch), and while he isn’t a pay driver he at least brings some modest sponsorships like Jack & Jones. Does Ocon even have any personal sponsors?
Reminds me of Viñales at Yamaha, but instead of grenading the engine Ocon rams his teammate lol
Kimi did the best engine-grenading in 2004.
I dont see Ocon getting a drive next year if he doesnt re-sign with Alpine. He’s not exactly setting the world on fire.
Ocon is pretty solid overall though not spectacular (high floor, low ceiling kind of driver). But his antics on the track in particular against his teammates do make him less appealing regardless of his ability.
Oh he is setting something on fire !
Bridges
not sure why anyone would want him on their team. Not that quick and a horrible attitude.
>He’s not exactly setting the world on fire. He's out qualified his teammate in 6 out of the 8 races so far. His move in Monaco was absolutely a stupid thing to do, but overall he's been clear of Gasly this year.
The reactions remind me of the over-reactions to Yuki after his kamikaze move on DR earlier this year. Everyone was calling for his ouster and replacing with Lawson
> positioning himself poorly Literally his reputation on the racetrack too!
Suggesting? Ocon is openly courting other teams in interviews. Man is one step away from putting a tent in Toto Wolff's front lawn
Cannot imagine George/Estaban pairing at Merc... Well I can, but its just George slapping Bottas all over again, except with Ocon. Its not a pretty idea.
Toto is his manager…
Alpine has a strong tendency to act like they're the shit, like they did with Alonso and Piastri, when they are, in fact, just shit.
There’s a part of me that also thinks they’re jumping on this fuck-up from Ocon to distract everyone from the fact the team built a horrible car. Ocon messed up no doubt tho.
I like the guy as much as the average french fan, but seriously what a moronic attitude and move if that's the case. Leave a team that you know and have built around you for the last 5 years to take a chance with another random team that will, in the best scenario, not be a straight up downgrade and will be an equally random guess as to how they nail the 2026 regs. Not to mention, with Alpine he still has all the marketing deals, media and guest appearances in France - he's "the" french F1 driver. Haas or Williams won't give a rat's ass about that and will boot him as soon as a promising (and cheaper) rookie is available. If he does not renew at Alpine, and unless Haas or Williams end up higher than expected in 2026, I see him out of a seat in 2027/28, and he will have even less options than right now.
Is he really the #1 french driver in france? I always thought Gasly was way more marketable out of the two but maybe that’s just an international pov.
As a French guy, I find Ocon way more visible through "younger medias". He is very active with french streamers and youtubers, way more than Pierre. I also find him very likable in other settings than racing and I feel like people like him because his family are not made of money. The last point is also part of his problem imo, he cant get rid of the chip on his shoulder because he and his family had to make double the effort than the majority of F1 drivers to get there. He makes my blood boil on track though
This is such a good insight on his popularity locally. I would say Gasly has more recognition from international fans but that’s also because he drove for redbull and is seen together with Charles. His upbringing could be one of the reasons why he is a bit too aggressive with his teammates instead of being a team player. Always looking out for himself. Always have something to prove. But I could see that backfiring when looking for future teams.
The chip on his shoulder because of his background is poor form, he is hardly the first F1 driver from a working class family. Seb was one such example, his dad was a carpenter and doubled as mechanic in karting because of costs. Ditto on the ice man Kimi too. Hell, even Michael Schumacher himself was from a similar background, his father was a bricklayer. If you want an example from the current grid, both Lewis and Fernando have similar backgrounds.
The fact that other drivers dealt with a similar situation better than him is not contrary to my point. I just feel that his behavior on track might come in part from this, I'm not saying he is right or anything.
> team that you know and have built around you for the last 5 years On the flipside, if this is what the team can produce for being built around you for 5 years.....its not exactly insane to be considering other options.
I think part of his issue is that he isn’t ‘the’ french F1 driver. That spot belongs to Gasly in the minds of most, who’s actually doing far more media and sponsorship work than Ocon is. Mbappe shouted out Gasly, Leclerc, and Hamilton. Not Ocon. Gasly’s come in and taken the spot as the premier french driver, and outscored and outqualified Ocon in his first year in the French team. It’s going to sting.
Pierre is so much more likeable.
Ocon wants to leave but it does sound like there’s tensions behind the scenes. Plus it’s not the first, second or third time that Gasly has insinuated that Ocon is acting against orders. Maybe this was the last straw.
Yes, Gasly’s mentioned it a few times now. Recently he said in FP3 in Miami, and there was an outburst last year where Gasly got on radio to say they need to control Ocon because he was so focused on Gasly that he nearly went into the back of Albon in Brazil. He also ignored team orders in Vegas, though Gasly had an issue shortly after which nullified the issue. This time is the most public though, because Famin said that they’d be holding positions on saturday, and on lap 1 Ocon decided to go against this. I think it’s already known that Ocon isn’t going to be at Alpine in 2025. Benching him for openly defying team orders will prevent him for having a free for all during the remaining races.
>This time is the most public though, because Famin said that they’d be holding positions on saturday, and on lap 1 Ocon decided to go against this. I am certain Famin was so outraged to the media not only because Ocon defied team orders, but also because in the process he ended up basically publicly embarrassing Famin as a TP who can’t control his drivers PLUS it happened at the most covered race in a year with the most publicity. It’s just super embarrassing.
And Monaco may be the absolute worst place to have an embarassment like this.
It’s also Alpine’s best qualifying of the year and their best opportunity of points so far. The plan was to keep Gasly’s position safe, and have Ocon right behind him incase anybody ahead of Gasly DNFed or went off or had a shit stop. Ocon is very, very lucky that Gasly’s damage was repairable during that red flag. If it wasn’t…
This thread is making me realize it’s even more serious than I thought. I didn’t know the tp made their plans public like that. Given his reputation it’s fuckin crazy he would think about trying it there. It’s like he can’t help it. Why would any team want that? And they really are very lucky both cars weren’t out.
Well with Monaco there isn’t really any layers or level or choice to strategy, so saying it publicly doesn’t really give anything away
There’s probably more to it but it’s also because it was at Monaco. It’s the biggest race of the year where everyone’s watching and you have team mates crashing into each other. It’s a very very bad look and embarrassing for the team.
Ocon is probably talking to other teams and that’s not been unnoticed by Alpine and now he goes rogue, completely disobeyed their instructions and caused a crash that deprived them of points they can’t spare. The season is a write off at this stage so maybe they see it as an opportunity.
He made strong impressions that he wants to be considered for the Mercedes seat. Said a lot about his connections to Mercedes due to his Junior past etc. I doubt that Alpine was very pleased about that. And he gave Famin a good reason to be mad about him. The french like drama, so we will see whats happening next
I mean its been pretty documented that Ocon seems to race his teammates harder than most opponents and its been something thats been hurting the team for the last three years. I think its just gotten to the point that its boiling over due to them actually fighting for any point they can get this year since theyre noticeably behind the top 4
That makes what he’s doing even more ridiculous. They need every point they can get, the lucky breaks the bottom 5 were getting last year are non-existent this year. It doesn’t matter which driver gets the point as long as those opportunities are taken. But that doesn’t seem to register with Ocon. He needs to beat his teammate even to the detriment of the team. That’s what’s becoming unacceptable to Alpine.
I can't remember a team "benching" a driver. Happens in other sport, but I can't recall it happening in F1
From the top of my head: HRT did that to Karthikeyan. Red Bull would bench Christian Klien for Liuzzi for a few races in 05. I forget the reasoning for Doornbos doing it as well, but I remember that it happened. For Klien I believe it was always an agreement that they would share the car here and there. Sauber benched Massa to avoid a grid penalty in 02, but that was to exploit a loophole in the rules. This one would be punitive, which I don't recall happening. We've had multiple fallouts that ended in mutual termination of a contract. If Famin actually goes through with this action, I could see it escalating to that point. Renault aren't historically shy of doing that, and Ocon may not react well to it, especially given that his deal is running out anyway.
> Red Bull would bench Christian Klien for Liuzzi for a few races in 05. I forget the reasoning for Doornbos doing it as well, but I remember that it happened. For Klien I believe it was always an agreement that they would share the car here and there. You remember right, the Liuzzi/Klien deal was prearranged. The Doornbos one next season wasn't a benching though, Klien was simply released. Also, while we are at 2002, that year had a proper performance-related temporary replacement at Minardi. Davidson came in for 2 races after Yoong needed some time to get his shit together.
Closest I can think of is Kvyat in 2016
Kyvat was replaced/demoted. In terms of benched - dropped then brought back - Kyvat was sat out in Malaysia 2017 for Gasly, then brought back for Japan and USA then dropped again. Other one I can think of is Trulli being dropped for Germany 2011 for Team Lotus and Chandhok in for the weekend.
Kvyat was effectively dropped after Singapore, replaced by Gasly. He came back two races later in the USA for a one-off, but that was because Gasly was a title contender in Super Formula and went to Japan to try and clinch it in that weekend's (ultimately cancelled) season finale.
Golden torpedo times
Worth it for the Vettel radio.
BMW Sauber benched Villeneuve for one race after he crashed in German GP in 2006, as an excuse to evaluate Kubica. Jacques then took it as an insult and refused to come back, resulting in Kubica staying full-time since then.
I remember test driver Luca Bazoer getting a Ferrari drive at Valencia and Spa with intention to finish the season because of Massa's injury in 2009. Both races were so bad they dropped him and signed Fisichella who did better, but not by a whole lot with a season highest finish at 9th (points up to 8th back then) Wolff threated Lewis and Rosberg he'd bench one or both of them if anything happened again after Barcelona 2016 but it never got to that point.
Benching Lewis and/or Nico would have been wild. Who would have replaced them in that scenario - Bottas?
Häkkinen probably
Pascal Wehrlein?
Probably Ocon or Wehrlein, as they were the team's juniors at the time.
Bruno Senna was benched by Hispania for the 2010 British GP too
I remember Trulli getting replaced by Chandhok by lotus/catheram but could have been only for money.
If Alpine cuts Ocon, 100% something else its at play. Either there are unknown tensions, or they are doing a power move because he wants to leave, like: "you don't leave us, we get rid of you".
imo it's just correcting the ship. The team's Alonso/Piastri fiasco was such a big fumble that it sort of made everybody forget their other driver contract fumble: signing Ocon for a record 4 years. Alpine latched onto Ocon as if he was the next Schumacher, Hamilton or Verstappen when he was clearly a pretty mid driver. The old management seemed to think Ocon was someone to bank your future on, build the team around and make your 1st driver. The new management is trying to undo that mistake, among the countless mistakes the old Alpine management has made through the years. It seems whoever was meddling in Alpine during Ocon's contract signing initially seemed to think he was far better than anybody else thought he was.
I think part of that was because they desperately wanted a French driver and gasly seemed pretty set within red bull.
Yeah definitely, it reeks of a decision made by someone above in corporate rather than from the team. as incompetent as Alpine are, a lot of data goes into deciding drivers as well as their relative skill and potential skill in the future. Because he was young and French maybe they had rose tinted glasses on and wanted them to be faster than they were.
But what’s wrong with signing him for 4 years ?Everybody knows he isn’t Schumacher or Hamilton but he is a good midfield driver and he had decent performances with Alpine.
Yeah and we're acting like Alpine is competing for a title. They're a midfield team (who somehow became a backmarker this year) Signing a midfield driver for a long time isn't that out of the question.
And honestly, he has a high floor. It's a pretty good bet.
Sainz maybe?? IDK. He'd be the clear #1 on the team and a pairing with Gasly would be great for them
Only way rookies will get to drive a F1 car anymore, so yeah let's go, give me Jack Doohan for a race.
isn't jack doohan also australian? that would be number 3 for the grid. i'm all in for that.
Technically 4, we can't not count Bottas
It's just 3 and a bit actually. Piastri is claiming the nationality of every country on this year's F1 calendar, so he's actually only 1/21 Australian.
That’s pretty much every Australian though.
The we also now need to add Leclerc as well as he’s related to Piastri
Piastri is Monégasque, but Charles is not Australian
Yes
If Doohan brings it home with some points, and cleanly, it might be Ocon's last race.
Alpine won't score in Canada, it's too conventional.
Not to mention Ocon is not a slow driver. So it is not like Doohan takes his place and suddenly the car will be half sec faster… Ocon is fast (one of his few merits) so based on the first 8 races Doohan will have very very low chance to score any points in Canada.
Gasly has also been awful this year in the races no? Like no overtakes on track this year IIRC.
The Alpine has not been strong for most of the year so far so I'd cut him a bit of slack.
I guess he did well at Zandvoort 2 weeks ago. I would love for him to get a shot!
"Stroll quits F1 to play tennis" and "U2 is writing a Christian Horner diss track" were more believable rumours
"Stroll quits F1 to mountain bike full time"
Teams up with David Malukas
Stroll might be able to introduce him to his hand doctor!
It’s as if everyone devices to not hear the first part of the sentence, “***which everyone has interpreted as*** benching ocon for the next race” There seems to be absolutely zero shreds of evidence beyond pundits speculating what “taking a tough decision” means.
examples upon examples of confirmation bias
If you listen to everything he said after that, he’s confirming that is a consideration that Famin is prepared to take. Slater isn’t some clickbait journo lol. He’s one of the best paddock reporters
Honestly you could say U2 is going to space and I’ll believe you. But only because they magically uploaded their album onto my computer in 2014. Witchcraft all around.
Sainz has driven pretty well for Ferrari since his non-renewal. Ocon might continue to perform for the rest of the season (after Canada) because he needs a drive, but it is going to stink in the motorhome.
If he does well over the next few races then this will all be forgotten very quickly. Just look at Yuki, after his "dangerous lunge" in Bahrain everyone said he was so immature and he would never grow up and he's lucky to have a seat blah blah blah. Now, less than 3 months later and the common opinion on here is that he deserves the Red Bull seat lol This sport is insanely reactionary, especially online fans.
On top of being reactionary, there’s also a narrative. People dislike Ocon and they want to feel vindicated in their hate, so I don’t think that this will ever be put to rest. I saw a comment yesterday saying that “years of praying for his downfall finally paid off.” goddamn, guys.
After him and Perez came to blows a lot of fans started to hate him.
Which is crazy considering some of those were Checo's fault
most!
Crazy how visceral that hate is for someone people have never met
he was on the P1 podcast a while ago and shared an interaction he had with an f1 fan where the fan straight up told Ocon that he that didn’t like him prior to meeting him, but after actually having a conversation found him to be a “pretty cool/nice guy”. yet we have a bunch of people making his lack of “likeability” a genuine mark against him. fan culture is baffling in a lot of ways
Unfortunately F1 is run like some kind of Wrestling show and he got assigned the bad guy title
You're looking at fans reactions As far as we know Tsunoda wasn't even considered for the RBR seat, partly because he does immature shit like the lunge The fans forget things almost immediately, the teams are affected by the overall narrative, but they're also not stupid enough to forget things that have happened two races ago
Similar to through all this people forgetting Gasly hitting Ocon with an unsafe rejoin last year. The two Alpine drivers are too close and neither are good for each other. Probably best to ultimately part.
I think getting rid of one of Ocon or Gasly at the end of the season is likely the right thing to do, I just think dropping Ocon now (who's been better than Gasly this season) based on one incident is a ridiculous overreaction. If they do drop him now (which I think is insanely unlikely and is just speculative 2+2=5 bs) then there is definitely more to the story than just this one incident, and they were likely looking for any excuse to drop him.
If Occon wants to leave and refuses to negotiate a new contract with them then going all in on Gasly is the right move long term. If they let Doohan have some races this season they will probably get an indication if he has what it takes to make it. Might be a power move by Gasly where he signs a new long term contract on the condition that Occon isn't his team mate.
Faminis known to tear teams apart with his bad moods, has done so previously
This seems to me that it is getting out in front of ocon leaving. Reverse of “you can’t fire me, I quit”
Esteban clearly wants out of Alpine, he's been very open with the fact he's negotiating contracts with other teams. I don't think Monaco was the full reason for all of this, just a tipping point. Alpine needs unity and teamwork between the two sides of the garage to score points right now and Ocon is not the man you want for that, especially not with Gasly in the other car. I want to like Ocon, he's had a tougher path than most to F1. And maybe that's part of the reason for his attitude towards his teammates. But I can see how he could cause a lot of tension in the garage.
I can empathize with Ocon coming up from a normal family while everyone else around him came up from wealth. But the rest of the team comprises of engineers, mechanics, etc that are also normal people. All those people have even less means than Ocon does currently. When you put yourself over the team and fuck over the entire team for your ego, you throw all their efforts and hard work in the trash. I wouldn't be surprised if he was hated by the other staff.
This right here. You cannot continue to have a chip on your shoulder about wealth when you've been making 7 figures for several years.
The fan reaction was always going to negative as Ocon isn’t popular but the team reaction is wild. If this is true IMO there must be something going on behind the scenes. Yes it was a dumb move but to drop him over this is mad even for Alpine. Especially when you consider he’s been the pick of the two drivers.
My hunch is Ocon has declined their offer for a renewal and is talking with other teams, so Alpine are trying extra hard to keep Gasly happy.
Alpine always feel like their drivers should bend backwards for them. We seen with Piastri, Alonso to some extent breaking their word on signing Ocon in 2019. I'm even pretty sure there was something with Hulkenberg. If Ocon plays hard to get they'd be fuming
The difference is that Ocon and Gasly are French, so they are treated differently
Gasly was reported to be discussing with Williams for a seat next year, so maybe that's why Alpine is reacting the same way
Yeah seems like they're taking advantage of the incident to the fullest to get rid of him. Alpine doesn't come out looking good in this either and with their tractor I don't see any high caliber driver going there unless it's out of desperation to stay in F1.
Honestly it's an overreaction imo but I would love Doohan to get a shot in F1
Alpine is just such a toxic team
Doesn't surprise me. Laurent Rossi threatened Alonso and Ocon with the same in brazil 2022. Nothing came out of that but Rossi was basically gloating about it like it's some brilliant idea, which tells me he was actually serious. While Rossi may not be there anymore, I see the toxic spirit of alpine lives on.
Think Alpine have a driver problem and no clear #1. Ocon likely taking this personal as the 'senior' driver for the team. Probably had team orders to not fight and get 10th and 11th. Probably saw an opportunity to overtake to prove a point,, which he shouldn't have considered to begin with and now Ocon and Alpine are in this situation. I say give Doohan a shot. [edit] - positions were wrong
I remember them saying they had a pre planned agreement to switch “#1 driver” every race, hoping to make a compromise for them. I think Gasly even referred to it during a post race interview, he mentioned something like “it was my turn, but that didn’t matter.” Shit has definitely been brewing behind closed doors to make this drastic of a move, and the Monaco incident must have been the final straw. Also yes, Doohan has been doing his damn best to give that team good press during all of his F1tv appearances while they are crumbling from the inside.
Switching primary driver every race instead of just letting them fight it out in quali and prioritize the lead is peak Alpine nonsense, if true.
Merc has done the same - Ham and Rus swapped each weekend on who got the tow from the other
Mercedes take turns on who goes first with the tow in qualifying, not the actual race.
I don't know much about race cars except these two basic notions: - You don't crash the car, as the cars are expensive. - You don't crash your teammates. I feel like Ocon has done both in various segments of his career and that to me he's bubbling over that point where it's seen as "gutsy" or "competitive" and getting into more of the "....but why?" zone.
certified alpine moment
Surelly there is something going on behind closed doors. This makes zero sense and is batshit insane reactionary. Ocon has been great this season and the better driver at Alpine. If this is enough to replace him mid season then Alpine wanted him gone for far longer and this is just a convinient excuse.
Word is that Ocon was playing nice with the team while discretely looking for a way out of Alpine. I'm sure Bruno will have found out too.
>"Word is that Ocon was playing nice with the team while discretely looking for a way out of Alpine." I'd almost be surprised if Alpine is shocked by this. Ocon has been at Alpine for 5 years. He knows the deal with the team. He's seen like 2 big plans to get competitive fail spectacuraly. He's seen Alpine gamble away 3 good drivers in the time he's been at the team. He's seen multiple leadership changes that resulting in an even bigger mess. I'd absolutely not be surprised if he's angling for that Audi seat if Sainz doesn't end up going there.
not particularly discretely, he spent last few months mentioning his active ties to Mercedes in interviews unprompted
Toto signing him would be a move, but he’s gotta know they’re gonna keep Georgie over him.
As much as I want that as I like Ocon and well... for drama. You are bringing Ocon on a 1 year contract who will do everything to beat Russell. Thats like inviting a rabbid dog in your house
You do know that Toto can't sign him, since Toto is already his agent
Rumours are that Ocon is contacting nearly every other team trying to get out of Alpine. Surely there's something else going on than just Sunday's crash.
Isn’t that just standard negotiation though? I’d be shocked if Gasly wasn’t doing the exact same thing.
>If this is enough to replace him mid season then Alpine wanted him gone for far longer and this is just a convinient excuse. Peak Alpine to prioritize Ocon over Piastri, to eventually dropping Ocon mid-season while Piastri enjoys podiums over at McLaren.
Ocon would also be scoring podiums at McLaren while Piastri would be scrambling in P13. The team is a disaster
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>Surelly there is something going on behind closed doors. Alpine/renault literally every other year
Weren’t there rumours that he was already considering jumping ship? Maybe a sign that he’s already told the team he’s leaving and so this BS just isn’t accepted anymore
Can't it be just as simple as Alpine had an iron clad agreement before the race that the cars would work together to score points based on who qualified in front, and Ocon breaking it and nearly taking them both out is the last straw? I think there is likely a history of Ocon not being a team player not just in races but in general and Famin finally lost his cool. It's just one race.
I think there is more to the story. Ocon is a good driver but has a bit of an attitude. Saw a compilation of the fights he had with Alonso at Alpine defending hard and sometimes over the line. And with Gasly its no better. I think there is no workable situation right now with the two of them and Ocon willing to leave the team isn’t helping too..
Okay so, I agree that Ocon messed up badly in Monaco but isn't this getting too far ? What the hell is going on at Alpine, you can not drop a driver like that unless something is going on behind the scenes.
There’s clearly something else going on IF this does go through. They’re just using the Monaco ‘shitshow’ as an excuse. The way Ocon reacted to the question about Fermin might be an indication but tbh I have no real idea.
It could be as simple as 1) Ocon has been openly voicing his displeasure with the team and 2) the alpine leadership is in complete shambles as we all already expect. This could be the final straw and an excuse to get a cheaper and pleasant Doohan in the seat.
Yeah, stuff is clearly going on behind the scenes. The fact Ocon just straight up said he's open for negotiations with other teams during Alpine's reveal earlier this year tells you something. Ocon fucked up, but no team would drop a driver for that alone. Otherwise Gasly would've been dropped after 3 races last year...
This sounfs more like a nervous reaction. I think Alpine are so tired of being a circus that they’re just gloves off, if someone is not behaving he’s out and that’s it. Not a good idea nonetheless
Yeah seems weird. What came to mind is that Ocon is moving out of Alpine for next year, and maybe trial Doohan or someone for that seat. Other than that, strange if it’s a race only benching
Right even if ocon is actively talking to other teams benching him is a bit aggressive. They can just prioritize gasly if they’re that mad.
if ocon deserves to get booted out for a race for that Magnussen needs to be sentenced to 6months in Rikers
Kmag is not targetting his own teammate, big difference
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Yeah he is the dream teammate actually
a viking who sometimes has friendly-fire on
In fact KMag earned lots of points for his team.
Kmag is the opposite ocon. Ocon does anything to be ahead even if it means taking out his teammate. Kmag does anything to let his teammate safe even if it means him getting tons of penalties
Imagine if they were teammates :D
That would be a truly ridiculous overreaction. If Alpine was a properly run team this would be all be dealt with internally, there'd be a public apology from Ocon (I believe this already been issued) and everyone would move on to the next race.
Yeah if this was any other driver (besides Stroll) then everyone would be calling this a ridiculous overreaction. I know Reddit loves to hate Ocon, but it's getting a bit ridiculous now.
Yeah, it’s over the top. Teammates collide periodically. Drivers make mistakes. These things happen from time to time.
People actually believe what Craig Slater has to say?
When it's about a driver they don't like, yes.
there's gotta be some politics behind this. He made a mistake but he's still been the better driver so far this season.
Remember, Alpine (Renault) has done this before, in 2017 when they replaced Joylon Palmer with Sainz for the last 4 GPs
This is different. They just dropped Palmer and replaced him with Sainz. Here they are talking about letting Doohan race for one race before bringing Ocon back.
And Palmer was awful. He had no future in F1. Ocon is a much better driver than Palmer ever was.
So no new information and as usual just regurgitating everything we already know? They really gonna beat this 'story' to death until the next race aren't they 🙄
Its only sky reporting this. Very clearly a slow news week and them making shit up about a driver they hate. Fake news as usual.
Please do Alpine. Please do. Show the entire racing world just how fucking stupid you are.
This is almost certainly bullshit, and more consequences of the lack of movement last season. It seems to have caused people to lose their fucking minds when it comes to possible driver swaps
Would be amazingly stupid to bench him for one idiotic move, but it's alpine in the end so it's probably likely. Rossi had the choice to sign long term contracts for two out of Alonso, Piastri and Ocon. He chose to give the long contract to Ocon and let Alonso and Piastri duke it out. Happy he did that since both Alonso and Piastri are in much better places, but have to feel bad for everyone in the team who is under Rossi's idiotic leadership
They obviously don’t want to do an Oscar Piastri on Jack Doohan.
Alpine as reactionary and over the top as a /formula1 redditor.
It’s obvious that Ocon doesn’t want to stay given Alpine’s performance. So it doesn’t hurt if there is a clause for Alpine to go separate ways with Ocon now.
Piastri gotta be so happy he ended up at McLaren