Esteban Ocon is leaving Alpine at the end of the season, the team announced ahead of this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix. Ocon will bring his five-year association with the team to an end.
He joined in 2020, when they were still known as Renault, and stuck with them through their transition. Daniel Ricciardo left for McLaren, but Ocon stayed to partner two-time world champion Fernando Alonso.
His reward was a first victory at the Hungarian Grand Prix the following season. However, by the end of 2022, things became fractious with Alonso and the Spaniard left to join Aston Martin.
Alpine took a chance by bringing in Pierre Gasly as his replacement. That enabled them to have an all-French line-up, but they risked reigniting long-standing tension with Ocon.
While it would be unfair to characterise the partnership as explosive, there have been a couple of flashpoints. They were involved in a crash at the 2023 Australian Grand Prix that ended both of their races.
And then, at the last race in Monaco, Ocon ignored an instruction to hold station and attempted to pass Gasly at Portier on the opening lap. The resulting contact ended the former’s race, and left the latter with significant damage.
While there’s no indication that Alpine have parted company with Ocon as a direct result of this incident, it certainly didn’t help his chances of being offered an extension. If they were uncertain about what to do, he may have inadvertently made their minds up.
Martin Brundle says Esteban Ocon is headed for Haas
Ocon needs to resolve his future quickly because as it stands, he’s without a seat for 2025. Based on comments from Sky Sports F1 pundit Martin Brundle in Montreal, he may have just done that.
Brundle believes that the 27-year-old is headed to Haas, who may field an all-new line-up. Nico Hulkenberg is headed to Audi, with Ferrari academy talent Oliver Bearman poised to replace him.
Hulkenberg’s teammate Kevin Magnussen is out of contract, and it seems as if Ocon will take that seat. Magnussen has put himself on the verge of earning a race ban by racking up 10 penalty points.
“We think he’ll turn up at Haas next year, Esteban Ocon,” Brundle said. “He’ll be there. I’m pretty sure he’ll be there.”
Alpine may have deliberately tried to hurt Ocon in driver market
Often, when a team announces that their driver is leaving, it’s because he’s about to be unveiled elsewhere. It’s seen as courteous to let his current employers break the news.
But this time around, Alpine appear to have issued confirmation before Ocon had the chance to sign with another team. There’s apparently a feeling in some quarters that they did this to weaken his negotiating position, which would be a marker of bad blood.
In reality, though, Ocon may have damaged his own prospects with his lunge in Monaco. Williams team principal James Vowles hasn’t shown any interest in hiring him alongside Alex Albon because he doesn’t see him as a ‘team player’.
As for the other available seats, Audi are the only other team who stand as out as a realistic destination. That’s because there’s ‘zero chance’ of Mercedes making him an offer, even though they manage his career.
Ocon has reportedly been on the Audi list, but they may have to look elsewhere. His close friendship with team principal Ayao Komatsu may have been a key selling point in the decision to join Haas instead.
The post 'He'll be there': Martin Brundle confidently names the team Esteban Ocon will likely join for 2025 appeared first on F1 Oversteer.