Alpine will need at least one new driver for the 2025 Formula 1 season after announcing that they were parting ways with Esteban Ocon.
Pierre Gasly is expected to stay with Alpine beyond the end of this season and the team want the Frenchman to sign a new long-term deal.
Esteban Ocon hasn’t announced where he’ll be driving next season, although he’s been linked with one team who are in search of at least one new driver.
Sky Sports F1 journalist Craig Slater has provided more details of who Alpine are targeting to replace Ocon.
It’s not the most enticing seat on the grid at this stage, with the French works team sitting eighth in the Constructors’ Championship.
There are only a limited number of available seats for next year, but that doesn’t mean the drivers still seeking a new contract can’t afford to be picky.
Slater now believes that Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz and Sauber star Valtteri Bottas have both rejected Alpine after having talks with the team.
Both drivers are out of contract at the end of the year but holding out for better options.
READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Alpine F1 Team from team principal to lineage
Carlos Sainz and Valtteri Bottas rejected Alpine after talks
Alpine team principal Bruno Famin has a huge decision to make about the future of the team’s driver line-up.
It was always going to be a risk partnering Ocon and Gasly given their previous run-ins and several times on the track they’ve clashed.
The request to swap the French pair at the end of the Canadian Grand Prix has gone down as well as expected with Ocon who is unlikely to be prioritised again this season.
Pierre Gasly would be a useful driver for Alpine to hold onto and it appears as though there aren’t any serious opportunities for him elsewhere on the grid.
READ MORE: Alpine driver Pierre Gasly’s life outside F1 from net worth to girlfriend
However, there are very few drivers of a similar or better standard than Ocon available making replacing him a difficult challenge.
The two obvious candidates in that sense are Carlos Sainz and Valtteri Bottas.
Sainz, as F1Oversteer understands, is in line to join Williams which would explain why he rejected a move to Alpine, especially with Audi being another potential option.
Valtteri Bottas doesn’t look nailed on for any seat elsewhere but a move to Famin’s team hasn’t appeared to the experienced Finn.
Alpine running out of options to replace Esteban Ocon
Speaking about the vacant Alpine seat, Slater said: “There’s this little clutch of drivers who are available and on the market at the moment.
“Carlos Sainz has had talks with Alpine but I’m told that’s a no-go.
“Valtteri Bottas has also had some discussions with Alpine but those talks did not progress.”
One of the names being mentioned in the conversation to join Alpine is Jack Doohan.
The young Australian was in line to make his first FP1 appearance of the season in Canada but the changeable weather thwarted his opportunity.
Zhou Guanyu is unlikely to be retained by Sauber but his investors could play a role in him potentially joining Alpine.
Available seats in Formula 1 are few and far between and although Bottas and Sainz have rejected a move to Alpine, several drivers will jump at the chance of joining them in 2025.
The post ‘That’s a no-go’: Craig Slater shares which two drivers rejected 2025 Alpine seat after holding talks appeared first on F1 Oversteer.