Gasly and Ocon at Alpine: The 100% French trio

The arrival of Gasly at Alpine makes the team 100% French, and even exclusively Norman! But the Ocon/Gasly rivalry takes a big turn today. The two Frenchmen are now teammates, and it remains to be seen whether they become friends like Sainz and Norris or rivals like Senna and Prost?

In the same way as Hamilton and Button at McLaren between 2010 and 2012, Alpine has just created a national alliance. With their enthusiasm and youth, the two young drivers will be teammates for the following season. Despite the reticence of some, the two drivers will be on equal terms at Viry-Chatillon. With the same prize list, there will be no favouritism between the Normans.

It is not the first time that Renault has recruited two French drivers. After Jean-Pierre Jabouille and René Arnoux and then Alain Prost, the French trio is back in the limelight with Ocon and Gasly. Unfortunately, the Prost-Arnoux duo was not conducive to the good understanding and development of the team. The two drivers were constantly compared, judged and criticised. The loser was Prost in the media. In 2020, he was already reluctant to the idea of a new tricolour duo when it was necessary to find a replacement for Ricciardo.

The results of this new marriage could be decisive for the future of Alpine and these two drivers in F1.

What Alpine is missing now is a Grand Prix in France. Le Castellet hosted the last race in France this year for a while. Despite a large number of French circuits, Formula 1 will not be setting foot in the country. What Ferrari has in Monza or Verstappen in the Netherlands, it is not this year that the blue-white-red flags will be waved at home.

When the two Normans met in 2000, a friendship was formed when Ocon's father offered to let a football-playing Pierre try out his son's kart. Both in love with these four-wheeled cars, the Gasly and Ocon families help each other in the various championships in which their young sons participate. Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon are very talented. They progress quickly and join Leclerc, Hubert or Albon and Verstappen in the regional, national and world categories. Gasly then outperformed Ocon by joining the French Motorsport Federation in 2009. Based in Le Mans, the school promises its talents to improve, help and support them on a sporting level but also on a management level with language courses for example. The first distortions are created. The end of any friendly relationship takes place in Braga, Portugal in 2010.

During the KF3 World Cup, during one of the qualifying sessions in Portugal, the two drivers clashed. Gasly told Beyond The Grid, F1 Podcast 2018: "I was going to start third, he didn't really like it and sent me spinning. Esteban literally cut the track, went across the grass and hit me. A lot of things happened that I didn't really appreciate. I respect people who respect me, but if one day they don't respect me, I don't respect the person either. I was disappointed more than once, I waited for an apology that didn't come."

Today, the two Frenchmen greet each other, respect each other on track and sometimes exchange a few words in the paddock. In the end, the new Alpine driver draws positives from this rivalry: "In the end, I think that what happened to us is positive because it motivated us even more to beat the other. It's funny to see that we are both in F1 from where we started, without much money.

During the FIA press conference at Zandvoort, Ocon spoke about the rumours of the second Alpine seat. "Whoever will be on my side, I think the important thing for me is to guide the team in the best way possible and develop the car as best as we can. To have respect between both drivers and a good atmosphere. I think that's important. With Pierre, we have a good relationship. There is no problem. We have respect between each other." He had also backed Mick Schumacher's bid to join the Enstone team alongside him.