3 reasons to explain Esteban Ocon’s failure at Alpine

Departing for the Haas team at the end of the 2024 season, Esteban Ocon will close a five-year chapter with Alpine. A story that had its ups, but which mostly ended with downs.

In five years at Alpine (formerly Renault, only during his first season with the team), Esteban Ocon had the opportunity to shine in Formula 1. Surprise winner during the Hungarian Grand Prix in 2021, the Norman also won two other podiums at the wheel of the French single-seater: in Sakhir in 2020 (2nd), and in Monaco in 2023 (3rd).

If these performances allowed the French team to put itself forward, the story between Alpine and the French driver ultimately turned sour, leading to the departure of Esteban Ocon towards the American team Haas for 2025. A departure which perhaps finds its roots several seasons ago, but which is really justified with this 2024 season.

Ocon never really a priority

From his arrival at Renault in 2020 to his last season at Alpine in 2024, Esteban Ocon was never able to enjoy true status as number 1 driver within the team. Teammate of Daniel Ricciardo during his first year in the French structure, he lived in the shadow of the Australian, author of two podiums (compared to 1 for Ocon) and who scored almost twice as many points as him (119 against 62).

Once Ricciardo left for McLaren, the scenario repeated itself with Fernando Alonso at his side. If Esteban Ocon has matched the Spaniard’s performances over the 2021 and 2022 seasons combined (166 points for Ocon, 162 for Alonso), the Frenchman even offering Alpine its first victory in F1 since 2008, he had to deal with the imposing figure of his teammate at his side.

2005 and 2006 world champion, Fernando Alonso had his aura and experience on his side, which should allow the car to improve. Even though Ocon’s results were satisfactory, it was difficult to give him the status of No. 1 driver with the Spaniard in the other seat.

The quarrel with Gasly caused everything to boil over

The scenario repeated itself again in 2023, with the arrival of Pierre Gasly. Recruited when the team knew that the two men did not like each other, he only did persist in an uncomfortable situation for Esteban Ocon, still condemned to a role of n°1 bis in the team.

The balance held for a year, until the 2024 Monaco Grand Prix incident where Esteban Ocon was found guilty of abandoning the two French cars. Alpine had to cut to the chase and make Ocon responsible for this error, marking a real break between the driver and the team.

This decision marked the failure of Esteban Ocon at Alpine, forcing the driver to leave at the end of his contract. Apart from the fact that the decision showed that the pilot was not still not favored by his stablehe also showed that his lack of consistency and his few errors had prevented him from assuming a new status within the team, even though his talent at the wheel of a single-seater is no longer in doubt.

A single-seater that is not efficient enough

Ultimately, the performance of the Alpine single-seater is perhaps the main reason for Esteban Ocon’s failure within the French team. If she had qualities upon her arrival, which notably allowed her – with favorable circumstances on the track – to win the Hungarian GP in 2021, she reached a glass ceiling which prevented the Frenchman from competing with all best.

Pearl, Stephen Ocon to vu team performance declinesto the point today of being only 9th in the ranking of manufacturers. “Unfortunately this reflects a bit on the performance of the car. The whole team is doing their best to improve the situation, but it will be difficult to do better”recognized the driver in an interview for the official Formula 1 website.

Without a high-performance single-seater, Esteban Ocon was not able to reach the summits with Alpine. These development problems combined with the lack of recognition he enjoyed and his falling out with Pierre Gasly will therefore have got the better of his history with the French team.