Esteban Ocon will not return to Alpine for the final race of the 2024 Formula 1 season, Sky Sports reported Sunday (Dec. 1).
Jack Doohan, who is signed to drive for Alpine in 2025, will take over the car in Abu Dhabi.
Ocon is set to drive for Haas next year alongside Oliver Bearman and The Race has reported that Ocon may have agreed to sit out the 2024 finale in order to attain Alpine advisor Flavio Briatore’s permission to partake in the post-season test at Abu Dhabi for Haas.
Alpine is currently locked in a battle with Haas for sixth in the Constructors’ Championship, leading the American outfit by five points heading into Abu Dhabi.
Speaking on the F1 TV Post-Race Show, Team Principal Ollie Oaks was cryptic when asked about the situation.
“It was the plan,” he said. “We’ll have to see.”
Ocon has been at Alpine since 2020, when it was branded as Renault, after running the 2016 season with Manor and the 2017 and 2018 seasons with Force India and Racing Point.
He took the Alpine’s first win under its current branding in 2021 at the Hungarian Grand Prix. He has also collected four podium finishes for the team with the most recent being a second-place result at the 2024 Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
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