Pierre Gasly has outlasted Esteban Ocon at Alpine. The team confirmed earlier this month that Ocon would be leaving at the end of the season.
Ocon and Gasly were initially close friends when they were children. However, the burden of competition took its toll and they fell out, with the damage to their relationship seemingly permanent.
Since Gasly joined the team in 2023, three years after Ocon’s arrival, they have collided twice. The first incident ended both of their races at the Australian Grand Prix last season.
More recently in Monaco, Ocon attempted a risky move down the inside of Gasly at Portier on the first lap. The dramatic contact took the former out and left the latter with significant damage.
A furious Bruno Famin decided that change was needed and he came to a mutual decision to part ways with Ocon. The 27-year-old is now poised to join midfield rivals Haas.
The future of Gasly remains unresolved, however, as he approaches the end of his contract. Alpine have been hopeful of tying him down to a new long-term deal.
It seems Luca de Meo wants a French driver leading the team and he appears to rate Gasly highly after watching him score four podiums and one win in his F1 career. He could be the experienced teammate Jack Doohan needs, with the academy driver the favourite to succeed Ocon as it stands.
Audi interest complicates Pierre Gasly Alpine decision
A contract is on the table and ‘ready for a signature’. Alpine are determined to ‘extend Gasly’s services’ and establish the first piece of their 2025 line-up.
But according to F1-Insider, the former Red Bull driver remains ‘hesitant’. This is because he’s aware of interest from Audi, who ‘would also like to sign him’.
Audi will enter F1 in 2026 when they assume control of the Sauber team. That deal is estimated to be worth around £470m (via Motorsport Magazine).
Having already signed Nico Hulkenberg from Haas, they have been pursuing Carlos Sainz, who will leave Ferrari to make room for Lewis Hamilton. However, Sainz is poised to join Williams, which could force them to embrace a plan-b.
What Bruno Famin has promised Esteban Ocon about Gasly
Alpine will want to avoid a situation where both drivers have their minds elsewhere. There were already signs in Canada that it will be difficult to manage the dynamic with Ocon.
The team instructed him to move aside for Gasly in the closing stages of the race so that his teammate could pursue Daniel Ricciardo. That chase came to nothing, but the position wasn’t returned, much to Ocon’s frustration.
Marc Priestley feels there’s a ‘massive situation brewing’ at the team as a result. One journalist has even suggested that Ocon could be ‘binned’ during the summer break.
Things are going much more smoothly on the other side of the garage for now. Gasly has scored points at each of the last two races after a drought spanning the first seven, and he made his second Q3 appearance of the season in Barcelona.
He qualified an impressive P7, two spots and just under three tenths ahead of the sister car. Famin has ‘promised’ Ocon that he will receive equal treatment, though he couldn’t take advantage of driving the lighter A524 on Saturday in Barcelona.
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