Esteban Ocon wasn’t surprised to see Alpine drop the driver who replaced him after just seven races.
Alpine released Ocon from his contract one race early at the end of last season and promoted Jack Doohan, whom the team had already selected as his replacement for this year. However ahead of this weekend’s race Alpine announced Franco Colapinto would take over Doohan’s seat.While Doohan’s exit was widely anticipated, not least after it was revealed by one of Colapinto’s sponsors before the last round, the departure of Alpine team principal Oliver Oakes following the last race came as a surprise to many. But not Ocon, whose exit was revealed in June last year, before Oakes even joined the team.
Ocon, who now drives for Haas, said the turbulent situation at his former team was no shock to him.
“Unfortunately it’s not really any surprise for some of the decisions that have been taken recently by the team,” he said. “I don’t have much to say.”
He joined the team in 2020, when it competed as Renault, and scored his only grand prix victory to date following its rebranding as Alpine the following year.
He said he was “sad for Jack,” who has remained at Alpine as a reserve driver. “I’m sure he’ll be back in F1 at some point. He showed some really strong moments this year where he qualified super-well and he’s also been super-quick in the car — which was good to see.
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“On the other hand, Franco also deserves to be in F1. Last year he showed some great things with the Williams car. Unfortunately, there are not enough cars on the grid to fit all the talents that are out there. But I’ve not much more to say. I’m happy where I am.”
Ocon’s former team mate Pierre Gasly said he gave Doohan all the support he could during their seven races alongside each other.
“I get on very well with Jack and Franco,” he said. “For all the months we worked with Jack, I’ve tried to support him as much as possible. He’s a great guy, I really like him and he’s got great speed.
“It wasn’t the easiest way into Formula 1 and that’s why I tried with my experience to bring as much [help] as I could because I wanted him and needed him to do well, so I did that.
“Franco is also a very good driver that’s the reason why we got him in the team in the first place. It will be interesting to see what he does. He was very competitive with Williams and we worked well with Jack I’m sure we’re going to work well with Franco.”
He added he was “sad to see Oli leave” after just nine months in charge of the team.
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“It was his personal decision and I got on very well. I think we worked extremely well and closely since he joined last summer. We had a very strong end of the year and things were very straightforward with him, very transparent and I like the sort of mindset he brought to the team.
“I’m sad to see him leave. We’ve got to respect his decision and accept it.”
Alpine’s executive consultant Flavio Briatore has taken over Oakes’ role. “Flavio is going to take more duties into the team, it doesn’t change the direction or the ambition, everything remains as business as usual and we just move on with it,” said Gasly.
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pcxmac (@pcxmac)
15th May 2025, 18:11
All’s well that ends well i suppose. Good to see Ocon get the last smile. I couldn’t believe how easy it was for Jack to be talking all that smack on F1 live a number of years ago about Ocon. But hey, Ocon is definitely a good guy in the end !
Jere (@jerejj)
15th May 2025, 19:29
Ocon’s Alpine departure couldn’t have been a better move for his career, & consequently, I’ve noticed that he’s generally been able to enjoy racing more this year than last year, so definitely good for him mentally, albeit still asking him about moves solely concerning his former team was weird.
Additionally, while he seems positive that Doohan returns at some point, I’m not, simply based on reality.
He certainly won’t get another full-time chance at Alpine, or otherwise his drive wouldn’t have been taken away in the first place, & getting an offer from any other team (even Cadillac) is unlikely after seven rounds without showing anything great.
MarkWebber (@markwebber)
15th May 2025, 22:10
He’s being outpaced by his rookie teammate, it’s not looking good for him.
SteveP
16th May 2025, 7:12
People inside and outside of the Renault/Alpine circle don’t seem surprised, but then no one considers it a surprise that FA, OP, EO jumped ship. If even half of the tales surrounding the Piastri mismanagement are true (and Webber has documentation) then “inept” barely scratches the surface of Alpine management.
When you think about it, the interesting thing is that Gasly has stayed.
isthatglock21
16th May 2025, 11:10
The French gonna French. The team will never thrive/succeed or generally move forward as proper outfit until the suits at Renault sell up. Alas, they change CEOs/boards every few years like the French love doing, and naturally each new alpha ego male CEO thinks he’s the one who can turn things around & sees it asa challenge. Also F1 is sexy & they love all love hanging out in the paddock, taking private jets/fancy hotels across the world as a weekend getaway with the family for which the company picks up the tab. Maybe that Carlos Ghosn fella had a point about Renault being crooked, at least he had the nerve to cut costs/refine the team/didn’t care for the fancy nature of F1…alas he had to be smuggled out of Japan in a big violin case…so maybe the CEOs are scared of being ruthless cost cutters or those who make big bold decisions.
S Arkazam
16th May 2025, 15:17
I was hoping to read why Ocon didn’t think it was a surprise that Oakes did (decide to) leave.
But the only reference is a quote which is very generic and doesn’t seem to talk about Oakes leaving specifically, especially as he is referring to a decision ‘by the team’.