On the finish of fifth consecutive season racing for Enstone’s Components 1 staff, Esteban Ocon will depart the staff at present often called Alpine on the conclusion of 2024 to affix Haas.
On the face of it, the 27-year-old will not be having fun with a very excellent season. For one factor, he’s behind staff mate Pierre Gasly within the championship by a single level after solely managing to file 4 prime ten finishes within the first 14 rounds of the season.
However as can so usually be the case in Components 1, trying on the outcomes alone not often tells a whole image.
Alpine started the season with a automobile that simply wasn’t on the stage of efficiency the staff anticipated or ought to have been at, given their sources and place in final yr’s championship. However whereas the opening rounds had been an train in frustration and excessive persistence, Ocon was clearly the one who coped higher within the state of affairs between him and Gasly.
Ocon started the yr out-qualifying Gasly in every of the primary 5 rounds. Whereas it took till the fifth try in China for Gasly to flee Q1 for the primary time, Ocon had finished so thrice by that very same level. The typical margin between them in qualifying over that span sat at 0.21s in Ocon’s favour.
He was superior within the races too. Other than the Australian Grand Prix, Ocon beat his staff mate to the chequered flag in 5 of the primary six rounds through which they each completed – and even his Melbourne afternoon was compromised when a rogue tear-off strip received caught in his brake duct. His work in Jeddah was additionally worthy of reward, ending forward of each RBs, a Williams and each Saubers when the staff was nonetheless scrambling desperately to seek out any tempo they may. He even secured the staff’s first level of the whole season in Miami with a really stable drive on Sunday, once more beating Gasly to the staff’s first prime ten of the championship.
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However regardless of placing in some very stable work over the early section of the season, Ocon was responsible of one of the crucial pointless and foolishly egocentric acts of the whole yr in Monaco. Having been out-qualified by Gasly, Ocon was determined to not lose out to his staff mate initially and lose preferential remedy for the remainder of the race. He threw his automobile up the within of Gasly’s into Portier, resulting in an inevitable collision that pitched him up into the air and brought on irreparable injury to his automobile and threatened to price Gasly his race too.
Though Ocon accepted duty and was relieved when Gasly was capable of take the restart and rating some extent in tenth, the injury had been finished. It was hardly coincidence that, earlier than the following spherical in Canada, Alpine introduced that they might be shifting on from Ocon on the finish of the season.
Esteban Ocon
| Finest | Worst | |
|---|---|---|
| GP begin | 9 | 19 (x2) |
| GP end | 9 | 18 |
| Factors | 5 | |
After this embarrassing episode, Ocon managed to bounce again on the subsequent spherical in Montreal. A really robust Sunday noticed him make his intermediate tyres final over half the race earlier than switching to slicks. Though he completed behind Gasly, that was primarily right down to him surrendering ninth to his staff mate beneath orders within the closing laps.
Following a trio of rounds through which Gasly out-qualified him, Ocon turned the tables on his staff mate into the summer season break with a run of 4 consecutive Saturday afternoons the place he was the quicker Alpine driver – though Silverstone wouldn’t actually rely attributable to Gasly having entered that weekend with a ‘again of the grid’ penalty.
The newest spherical of the championship, Belgium, was presumably Ocon’s better of the season. After lacking the opening apply session with a water leak, he managed to achieve Q3 for the third time in 5 rounds. Though he misplaced locations initially, his race was wonderful – passing a number of rivals over the race, together with Daniel Ricciardo within the closing laps to take his finest end of the season in ninth following George Russell’s disqualification.
All through the season, Ocon has proven appreciable grit within the face of the disappointing efficiency of his automobile. However except for having the sting over his staff mate for the majority of the season – if not on the scoreboard – Ocon has additionally demonstrated the qualities which have led Haas to take of venture on him over Kevin Magnussen for 2025.
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