Civil war at Alpine: Gasly thinks Ocon should change
F1 News
- Ludo van Denderen
Time and again, Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly let it be known that their relationship was fine, since the two Frenchmen have been racing together for Alpine. Is that still the same? A strange incident between Ocon and Gasly in the early stages of the Monaco Grand Prix suggests otherwise. In fact, it seems to be war within the French team, just when Alpine really do not need it.
Overtaking in Monaco is almost impossible. Yet on the very first lap, Esteban Ocon decided to make a far too opportunistic overtake attempt on teammate Gasly. There was no room for two cars side by side, Ocon soon noticed: he bounced over Gasly's wheel, hit the tarmac hard and ended his race.
Gasly did not understand the incident
"I was quite shocked," Gasly later told the media, including GPblog. "It was very unnecessary for the team. You should never have such a situation, especially between teammates. Just sad, disappointed with the situation, and especially since we had clear instructions before the race on what to do, and whoever qualified ahead, the trailing car was supposed to help throughout the race with the strategy, but unfortunately it didn't happen."
Ocon highly regarded, but not always loved
Esteban Ocon is a driver whose qualities are highly regarded. At the same time, (former) teammates have regularly spoken out openly about the way Ocon drives alongside them. Just ask Sergio Perez, as tensions boiled over when they were teammates at Racing Point.
The situation Alpine currently finds itself in is complicated, to say the least. Despite high pre-season expectations, the car is proving to be a failure and points can only be scored on rare occasions. Meanwhile, Gasly and Ocon's contracts expire after the season. So to escape Alpine, it is up to them to put themselves in the spotlight with other, better teams. Every man for himself, it seems, has thus become the motto.
Is more fuss between Ocon and Gasly imminent?
It seems a prelude to more incidents throughout the season. "I don't want to answer that," Gasly said. "He's a professional driver. You just know what to do and what not to do, and even more with your teammates, so he's a good driver. He's a very good driver. He knows what he does, so he just needs to make a change."