Gasly on Ocon: 'He has his opinion, I have mine'

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gasly and ocon crashed in Australia and he regrets it
30 November 2023 at 18:30
  • GPblog.com

The Australian GP earlier this year was hectic and dramatic. Three red flags, a record. What was also downright bizarre was the clash between teammates Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon. Gasly talks in the podcast Beyond the Grid about what this was like for him.

Gasly was in the number five spot when the race restarted for the second time. To avoid a collision with Fernando Alonso, he went off the track; when he got back on, his teammate was driving there. The two hit each other and did not make it to the end of the race. "Honestly, it was tough," said Gasly. "On the flight back home, I was just sad because, to me, it was the third or fourth race of the season with the team, and I was fighting with the Ferrari, with the Mercedes.’’

Podium in sight

The Frenchman, who had switched from Alpha Tauri, was really not satisfied: "I had the podium in sight, with Hamilton and Alonso a couple of seconds up the road, but it was a big result that would kick off your season on the right path. Flying out of Australia after all the work and the efforts, with zero points, was the worst scenario possible with both cars in the wall."

Solution with Ocon

"We talked things out. We went to Paris and had a chat with [then Alpine CEO] Laurent Rossi. He had his opinion, I had mine, it felt like he could have backed out of it. We agreed between team mates we’ve got to take slightly more margin."