The Canadian Grand Prix produced some brilliant action both on and off the track.
Daniel Ricciardo proved Jacques Villeneuve wrong after his scathing comments about the Australian’s place on the F1 grid, while the pressure continued to grow on Sergio Perez despite signing a new contract with Red Bull.
There were some fantastic battles on the track with both Mercedes drivers fighting for their first Grand Prix podium of the season while Haas narrowly missed out on a top-ten finish despite their bold strategy at the beginning of the race.
In the final few laps, there was a tight battle for the final few points between Alpine drivers Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon.
They were chasing down Ricciardo for 8 place but Gasly couldn’t catch him up and only just crossed the line ahead of his teammate.
It later transpired that Ocon had been asked to let Gasly pass him and in the F1 Post Race Show, commentator Alex Jacques has spoken about how brutal the weekend was for the £90k-a-week driver.
It was the latest in a long line of tense events within the Alpine team, although we now know it’s a relationship that’s set to come to an end.
READ MORE: Alpine driver Esteban Ocon’s life outside F1 from net worth to girlfriend
Alex Jacques reflects on a ‘pretty brutal’ Canadian Grand Prix for Esteban Ocon
All eyes were on the Alpine team after the Monaco Grand Prix after Gasly and Ocon collided on the streets of the principality at the beginning of the race.
It was the final nail in the coffin for Ocon’s time with the team and Alpine announced he would be leaving the team at the end of the campaign.
Tensions have existed between Gasly and Ocon for some time and it makes sense for the team to split them up in the future.
However, the call they made at the end of the race in Canada is only going to fuel any issues that exist within the team.
Ocon was leading his teammate in the final laps of the race but Alpine had picked up that he had an issue with his car.
This was enough of a reason for the team to ask the drivers to swap and while Ocon eventually relented, the team refused to swap them back after Gasly failed to overtake Ricciardo.
The problem was that Hulkenberg had closed right up to the back of Ocon, making another switch virtually impossible.
However, the most brutal aspect of the race was that Alpine never promised to hand Ocon back his position regardless of how close the Haas was to the back of him.
READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Alpine F1 Team from team principal to lineage
Alpine appear to be preferring Pierre Gasly already
Talking about the Alpine drivers after the race, Jacques said: “I can see why Esteban [Ocon] is upset with that.
“I think the team have been pretty brutal on the guy who has been geeing them up at the start of the year.
“But when one driver is leaving and we expect one driver to stay in Pierre Gasly, the team are always going to prioritise the driver that they think is going to be in the car for the next year.
“So, that’s just the way that Formula 1 goes. It’s a brutal business and Esteban Ocon’s on the wrong end of that at this moment in time.
“But, they were furious after Monaco so, good response, both cars in the points, all they could do.”
Alpine have difficult 2024 season to navigate as tensions rise
The Canadian Grand Prix was brutal for Ocon and it could get worse before it gets better.
There have already been suggestions that Alpine may cut their losses over the summer break and let Ocon go, replacing him with youngster Jack Doohan.
Alpine have two options for ending Ocon’s contract early although this still looks unlikely at this stage.
The 27-year-old has options for next season on the grid and still has a point to prove, hence why losing out to Gasly on Sunday would have been so tough.
Team principal Bruno Famin has suggested, via Autosport, that Ocon won’t be ‘put aside’ for the rest of the campaign.
However, only the team’s actions will prove whether or not that’s the case.
The post ‘Wrong end of that’: Alex Jacques says the Canadian Grand Prix was ‘pretty brutal’ for £90k-a-week driver appeared first on F1 Oversteer.