Alpine drivers Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly both say they want a strong working relationship together as team mates after their early racing rivalry led to tension between the pair.
The two French drivers raced together in karting as children and were friends despite their rivalry. However, according to Gasly, their relationship deteriorated as they got older and the two ended their friendship.“I started to beat him and he didn’t like it, so we’re not friends any more,” Gasly explained back in 2018.
“We’ve spent a lot of time together but it got to a point where he got a bit too upset and it wasn’t so nice any more. So we kind of stopped [socialising]. Then after we always [had] quite a lot of rivalry. I think we respect each other as drivers.”
“I’ve known Esteban for a long time and just starting to get to know Pierre, but I see no evidence of that,” Szafnauer told media including RaceFans at the launch of the team’s A523 car for the 2023 season.
“Yes, I hear exactly what you hear, but they’re working collaboratively. They went recently to Finland together and they flew on the same aeroplane out there together where they didn’t have to. So it looks like they’re friends again.
“But forget the friendship – the most important thing is they have to work as a team, because it’s a team effort. They have to share their experiences on track and the data to lift us all and I think that will happen. I don’t think we’ll have an issue.”
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
Gasly says that he and Ocon’s relationship as team mates will benefit now they are both older and more experienced in Formula 1 than in their earlier years in the world championship.
“It’s been good. I think it’s been really good,” Gasly said. “We think we’ve spent more time together in the past two months than we’ve spent over the last eight years or ten years.
“It was very important and I’m pleased with the way that we’ve been handling things with Esteban. I think we’re both grown up people now. We’re very much more mature, aware of the responsibilities that we have representing a team like Alpine and with the Renault group behind us.
Ocon’s relationship with former team mate Alonso appeared to deteriorate over the course of their second and final season together last year, with the pair clashing multiple times early in races such as Saudi Arabia, Hungary and the sprint race in Brazil. With the arrival of Gasly into the team, Ocon says he does not feel his dynamic within the team has changed.
“Obviously it’s very early days. But in a way my work doesn’t change – I’m still working with my group of people, with my group of engineers, but also that’s all being sent to Pierre’s side of the garage,” Ocon explained in response to a question from RaceFans.
“When we are doing a simulator day, we share the information. We are one in the simulator – we’re not two. So in a way, that remains the same for me. It’s important to focus on myself and and try and fix the little details that we think can be improved. So it’s early days at the moment.”
Ocon echoes his new team mate’s sentiments and stresses that both drivers aim to put the team’s interests first as they try to work Alpine to the front of the field.
“We are never going to be best friends, but the important thing for us is to keep the flow going together, which creates debate, creates solutions with the team. That’s how it’s been in motorsport forever. The fact that the drivers working together, identify a way to work and then teams come up with some kind of revolution – that’s what we need to try and get from our team to be able to fight for the front.”
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
2023 F1 season
- FIA president cleared of alleged interference in two 2023 races
- First week viewing figures for new Drive to Survive season fall again
- Max who? Drive to Survive season six prefers its favourite faces
- RaceFans’ complete 2023 season review
- The F1 drivers who pulled off the 10 biggest charges through the field in 2023
Shimks (@shimks)
18th February 2023, 17:07
This is going to be priceless. Get ready for the storm!
Nick T.
19th February 2023, 2:31
Agreed. I think PG is both arrogant and very dim. I expect Ocon to be consistently better, but if he isn’t, his complete inability to play the team game is going to make this a hilarious fluster cluck to watch.
David BR (@david-br)
19th February 2023, 23:03
@shimks The only question for me is whether the number of laps before their entente cordiale dissolves get into double figures.
Todfod (@todfod)
20th February 2023, 9:54
Ocon vs any teammate is fun to watch. Perez vs Ocon was really entertaining. Ocon vs Ricciardo was a bot of a damper as Ocon was often miles behind. Ocon vs Alonso got really interesting in their 2nd season as well.
Ocon does’t get along well with any teammate, so to have someone who he already has bad blood with, and to fight for top driver status within the team, will be mega entertaining.
If I had to guess, Ocon will be a troublemaker again this season, and will probably get the boot from Alpine when his contract expires.
Shimks (@shimks)
21st February 2023, 17:22
Remember the Verstappen-Ocon pitlane pushing incident…
Did you see the grin on OCO’s face? He was loving it. I’m sure he must have riled up VER on purpose. I’ve never liked OCO since then, although I don’t think VER is a better human being, necessarily! Just super-competitive people, as they need to be. I think OCO is a pretty mediocre driver when compared to other F1 talent. I’ve never seen anything really special from him but perhaps that’s my dislike of him clouding my judgement.
OCO-GAS PvP 2023 is going to be awesome. Can’t wait!! My only fear is that OCO is going to destabilise GAS (my favoured driver of the two). I think OCO is mentally much stronger.
@david-br @todfod
Nulla Pax (@nullapax)
18th February 2023, 17:40
I like the fact that they can be honest about disliking each other.
So much more refreshing than reading PR lies about how much drivers admire other drivers when it is blatantly obvious that detest them.
How well they will work together when the pressure is on remains to be seen :)
Nulla Pax (@nullapax)
18th February 2023, 17:41
I missed a “they” out in that post …. can you see where it belongs Boys and Girls? ;P
baasbas
18th February 2023, 17:55
Ocon has put teammates in the wall with less history between them… So for me it’s not a question if they’ll clash. It’s just when.
I’ll take a shot: we’ll see a spat within 5 races, carbon flying within 8 races and a strict “no racing each other” at the summer break
Nick T.
19th February 2023, 2:34
If Gasly isn’t as huge dude, which is what I’m expecting, it will happen almost immediately.
Nick T.
19th February 2023, 2:34
huge dud*
Thanks autocorrect
NS Biker (@rekibsn)
18th February 2023, 18:40
It is interesting, and nice, to see the consistency across all the comments so far. Yep, gonna be priceless.
baasbas, may be a little optimistic (or is that pessimistic?). I expect these things to occur sooner than anticipated.
Google gave me the answer to my internal question …. “feux d’artifice”.
Edvaldo
18th February 2023, 20:00
wow, this might be interesting!
Jere (@jerejj)
18th February 2023, 20:06
Of course, the most important thing is a good working relationship that serves the entire team, but I’m still prepared for on-track clashes, more so because of Ocon’s on-track battles with two different previous teammates, we’ll see.
Perhaps nothing extraordinary will happen in the end, although more likely than not since they’ll be battling for the same positions in all likelihood.
As a secondary note to the relevant matter, I think Otmar got the country wrong as they did the ice-driving thing in an Alpine road/sports car that appeared in a Round-Up earlier this month in Sweden (most likely in a more northerly region) based on Gasly’s words.
Darryn Smith (@darryn)
18th February 2023, 23:08
These guys suck. Hate is only interesting if the drivers are great.
Nick T.
19th February 2023, 2:40
Ocon doesn’t suck. He’s just above average. I agree Gasly does “suck.” It will still be interesting (I.E., that is hilarious) because we’ll get to see Alpine’s really dumb driver contract handling mistakes coming back to bite them for such a long time. Being too butt hurt to resign Ricciardo will end up being a huge mistake. The guy wiped the floor with Ocon and Hulkenburg at Renault.
Proesterchen (@proesterchen)
18th February 2023, 23:55
Are we really concerned about how two grown-up, 7-figure-a-year-earning adult humans interact at their common workplace?
Nick T.
19th February 2023, 3:11
Uh, why wouldn’t we be? Are you not aware of F1 history?
Proesterchen (@proesterchen)
19th February 2023, 14:11
Nah, just deeply uninterested in the Netflixification of the uncompetitive midfield.
Dex
19th February 2023, 15:00
It’s not even Netflix’ invention. They all just desperately need to have as many Senna vs Prost stories as possible, even if drivers in question are not as nearly interesting in any way imaginable. Preseason is the worst, a dry period with clicks/views/whatever measurement of getting attention being desperately needed. Gasly and Ocon, as exciting pairing as melting vanilla ice-cream.
Nick T.
20th February 2023, 16:26
I think you’re all missing the point, “Dex.” People find the pairing comical rather than exciting. That’s the interest: comedy. Not some epic battle of two greats.
Nick T.
20th February 2023, 16:24
I wasn’t referring to interest level. I was referring to the fact that being adults and highly paid has never led to good behavior among teammates.
Personally, I hate DTS. It’s schlock for people who don’t understand F1. What I’m talking about has nothing to do with that newb crowd.
bernasaurus (@bernasaurus)
19th February 2023, 12:33
Management at Alpine / Renault has been questionable for a while now. If Ron couldn’t handle Lewis / Fernando, I struggle to see how Alpine are going to handle these two. Obviously I don’t know either of them personally, but I’ve always thought of Pierre as somewhat agreeable and calm. Esteban at Brasil 18′ is almost like he was trying to get Max to punch him, the only way he could have done a better job is if he ran head first into his fist.
As great as it is to have two French drivers in a French team, we all know there is going to be fireworks, and the only real loser is Alpine at the end of the day. And if being on a plane with someone means you’re friends, I have thousands.
Todfod (@todfod)
20th February 2023, 10:02
@bernasaurus
Agree with Alpine’s management being a joke.
First, they sign a driver as uninspiring and mediocre as Ocon in a long contract.
Secondly, they don’t manage the situation with their consistently stronger driver (Alonso) and Ocon well enough. Ultimately, losing the driver who could get them to their goals.
Thirdly, they couldn’t even retain their back up for the future – the only proper talent they’ve sponsored in a while – Piastri.
Lastly, they sign another slightly above average driver to join the team, someone who has a history of not getting along well with an already difficult Ocon. It’s not like they’re managing Senna/Prost or Alonso/Hamilton.. they’re managing two difficult but rubbish talents.
Alpine should be a case study in what not to do.
t1redmonkey (@t1redmonkey)
19th February 2023, 17:22
I’m interested to see how they stack up against each other. I reckon Ocon is going to wipe the floor with Gasly, but let’s see.
Nick T.
20th February 2023, 16:30
@t1redmonkey
I’d tend to agree, but without Alonso’s data (he was never close to Alonso until he got to look at his data traces). So, he’ll probably struggle mightily without them.