Pierre Gasly says it is “unfair” that his former karting rival Esteban Ocon’s future in Formula 1 is in doubt.
The Force India driver is widely expected to lose his seat for the 2019 F1 season to Lance Stroll, whose father led an investment group which took over the team in August.In a response to a question from RaceFans, Gasly said Ocon’s situation is “pretty tough.”
“I mean, this world in F1, it’s not the first time that things are unfair. I’ve always said it, and I think everyone more or less agrees with it, that performance should be the only parameter to get your seat in Formula 1 and we all believe it should be the case.
“Unfortunately it’s a sport where politics and money play a massive part and as a driver it’s difficult to accept sometimes and I think he’s facing a situation that’s quite unfair.”
During the Russian Grand Prix weekend Force India team principal Otmar Szafnauer indicated the team intends to announce its 2019 driver line-up after this weekend’s race in Suzuka.
Sergio Perez, who is expected to be confirmed as Stroll’s team mate, also sympathises with Ocon’s situation.
“It will be very sad because I think he’s a great talent, he has done a good job and definitely deserves a seat in Formula 1,” said Perez during the Singapore Grand Prix weekend.
“We’ve seen in the past with [Nico] Hulkenberg after such a year that he did in his first season and he got kicked out. Formula 1 is a very hard world and very limited on opportunities.
“It’s all about timing. Drivers like [Charles] Leclerc come in at the right time, right moment and boom, get straight away a massive opportunity.
“As always you need a bit of luck in this sport to in the right time at the right moment and certainly it’s not looking that way from Esteban at the moment but I am sure he has great support from Toto [Wolff] so he’s anyway in a privileged position.”
@HazelSouthwell contributed to this article.
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Ben Needham (@ben-n)
4th October 2018, 17:10
I like Ocon as a racer, but sometimes these things happen. He’s very quick, but he’s also a little bit raw and might even benefit from a year out. Hakkinen, Hulkenberg and many others before them have found themselves forced out early in their careers, only to come back better the year after. I wouldn’t be surprised if the same happened to Ocon.
He’ll inevitably be named reserve driver for Mercedes and likely be driving for the team in 2020 if Hamilton has had enough, or if Bottas doesn’t improve. Until then, I’m sure he’ll find something fun to do for a year. He’s still younger than Hamilton was when he made his Formula One debut; and he’s got two and a half years experience in a reasonable midfield car already.
Reggie
4th October 2018, 19:31
On the nose bro. I like the chap soo much and pray that he will stay in f1. Apparently he does not have the financial background like some billionaire’s sons but in the end nobody can keep a gifted athlete down.
rpiian (@rpiian)
5th October 2018, 10:50
Yup – all is not lost, especially with his reputation so far.
Nick
5th October 2018, 23:18
You seem to have it all figured out but I don’t see how he going to benefit from a year off (more likely several years).
Hamilton isn’t going to retire in a year or two as he’s got a good thing going with Bottas. There is no reason for Mercedes to break up the chemistry even if Ocon is a better driver than Bottas. Also, Hamilton doesn’t want him in that seat because of the unknown – who can blame him?
Wolff has the audacity to call out teams for not giving Ocon a temporary seat to further his development until Merc has a need for him! Scolding a factory team such as Force India or Wiliams is one thing but to ask McLaren whom he refused to provide engines to is an indicator of how absurd F1 has become.
Politics play a part in many sports but F1 is as bad as it gets. Bureaucratic, back stabbing soap opera is what F1 has become. Politics is the only reason Force India, Torro Rosso RBR or Sauber won’t give him a seat.
Jere (@jerejj)
4th October 2018, 19:05
@ben-n ”He’s still younger than Hamilton was when he made his Formula One debut”
– No, he isn’t. He’s 22 as was Hamilton in 2007. To be perfectly precise, He’s actually a bit younger now than Hamilton was in Melbourne at the start of his rookie season (Ocon just last month turned 22 on the day after the Singapore GP, so he’s now 22 and approximately half months old while Ham was 22+2 months and 11 days when he made his F1 race debut.)
Ben Needham (@ben-n)
4th October 2018, 21:18
@jerejj – so my earlier statement is indeed correct? Ocon = 22 years, 0.5 months, Hamilton (at 2007 debut) = 22 years, 2 months. So I’ll state again: “He’s still younger than Hamilton was when he made his Formula One debut.”
Jere (@jerejj)
4th October 2018, 19:06
Agreed.
Dee
5th October 2018, 13:44
I wish drivers would stop the chant of ‘money is a key reason’, especially with respect to 2019. As of now there will be only Stroll and most likely Sirotkin who fall in that category. If FI had been sold to some other bidder, we would have most likely seen the figure go up to 3 as it is currently. I am not counting Perez in this list since I feel he is a really good driver and the money he brings with him is a plus and can be weighed against the backing the drivers of young driver programmes get .
Politics as a reason, I agree with Gasly on that. However, the reason behind it also makes sense. I would add the decision the young drivers make when they join a certain team’s programme as a decider too. it’s Charles’ luck (I am guessing this as I don’t have the timeline, so happy to be corrected) that Ferrari got a say in B teams to be able to place him, if required for a longer period of time, when his time came whereas Ocon didn’t have that luck with Mercedes. Norris is lucky(?) with McLaren’s situation and got a seat. Compare that to RB and TR where TR is like a testing facility for their young drivers. It’s better for youngsters to opt for TR/RB than the others purely for the higher percentage of getting a drive in F1, at least in the beginning and to continue if they are as good as Ocon.