The driver pairing Alpine never really wanted, which few thought would prove successful, will come to an end in 10 races’ time.
Last year, the team handled the occasional run-ins between Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly generally well. They were tested first when Gasly rejoined the track incautiously at Melbourne, crossed to the other side of the circuit and put his team mate into a wall. Late in the year there were flashpoints over team orders too.
More problems have developed this year, which is especially unwelcome at the team given its downturn in form.
The biggest drama came in Monaco, where Ocon’s desperation to ensure he did not end the first lap behind Gasly got the better of him, resulting in a needless collision. Days later came the apparently unconnected confirmation of Ocon’s impending departure.
Ocon has a reputation as one of F1’s most belligerent team mates. It no doubt rankled with him that he lost the points battle to Gasly, his racing rival from ‘back in the day’, in his first season at Alpine last year. And that was despite Ocon getting what looked like some advantageous strategic calls late in the season.
Times have changed: In Canada this year it was Ocon’s turn to bristle at an order to “let Pierre through”. He belatedly did so, then afterwards admitted he regretted being the “nice guy” in the situation.
In a season where points have been hard to come by for this team, a two-point swing like that one makes a big difference. At the summer break Ocon is ahead on the pure performance metrics, but he will surely want to correct the scoreboard over the final 10 races.
Things could get spicy at Alpine as these two cross off their final races as team mates. It will be up to team principal Oliver Oakes to make sure the rivalry between these two doesn’t get out of hand and make what is already a bad season for Alpine even worse.
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Ocon vs Gasly: Season summary
Ocon vs Gasly: Race-by-race
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Unrepresentative comparisons omitted. Negative value: Ocon was faster; Positive value: Gasly was faster
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Formula 1
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