It's definitely not very good to be French at Alpine anymore. A few weeks after the cessation of F1 activities at the Viry-Châtillon site, the historic Renault engine factory, the French team is cleaning out its boxes. After having replaced the young pilot Victor Martins, in the Alpine Industry for years, by Paul Aron, it is the turn of another Frenchman, eminently better known, to be shown the exit door earlier than expected.
And in a frankly not elegant way. Recruited in 2020 with trumpets and fanfare, to form a duo of Frenchies with Pierre Gasly, Esteban Ocon learned just before the start of the Qatar GP on Sunday that he would be sidelined for the last race of the season, in Abu Dhabi, next week. A decision that sounds like a slap in the gums for the one who got on the podium in Brazil a month ago, alongside Gasly, for a historic double for Alpine.
Tests with Haas in Abu Dhabi
At the wheel of a car clearly not equipped to win, the Frenchman will nevertheless have achieved the feat of winning the Hungarian Grand Prix in 2021 and finishing on the podium in Monaco last year at the end of a technically magnificent race . But we have to believe that the leaders of Alpine, who never stop making decisions that are as far-fetched as they are hasty, have a short memory.
Ocon will be replaced next Sunday by the Australian Jack Doohan, who will have barely four days to prepare for his big debut in Formula 1. With the pressure not to fail because, and on this point the specialists all agree, he It is not impossible that Alpine ends up preferring Franco Colapinto, the Williams revelation, but without a seat for 2025, the next season. Alpine, your merciless world… As for Ocon, he will take advantage of Abu Dhabi to carry out tests at the wheel of Haas, the team he will join next season.
