Esteban Ocon to Leave Alpine Racing Team at End of 2024 F1 Season

Esteban Ocon and Alpine will part ways at the end of the 2024 Formula 1 season, ending a five-year relationship.

Ocon, 27, joined the Enstone-based team in 2020 and went on to achieve his and Alpine’s first Grand Prix win when he triumphed in the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix.

He picked up two further podiums – at the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix and 2023 Monaco Grand Prix – and achieved a best year-end finish of eighth in 2022.

However, Alpine boss Bruno Famin has been considering the options for his 2025 driver line-up in recent months and the French manufacturer has decided not to renew Ocon’s contract.

Alpine said they will announce their 2025 line-up in “due course” while Ocon – who will continue to race for Alpine for the remainder of the season – said he would confirm his future “soon”.

“It’s been a significant period of my life to be racing at this team in Formula 1. While I’ve been here for five years as a full-time racing driver, my professional career started at Enstone back when I was a teenager, so it will always be a special place for me,” stated Ocon.

“We have had some great moments together, some tough moments as well, and I am certainly grateful to everyone at the team for these memorable times. I will announce my plans very soon but, in the meantime, my full focus is on delivering on track for this team and having a successful remainder of the season.”

The news comes after a difficult race weekend for Alpine in Monaco, when Ocon collided with Pierre Gasly on the first lap, earning him a five-place grid penalty for this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix.

Ocon released a statement saying he has been “deeply saddened by the amount of abuse and negativity” he received following the collision.

Sources say that the decision to part ways with Ocon was not a response to the Monaco clash as his future has been under discussion for a while, however naturally, such an incident did not help.

Original news source