Will the opening-lap collision between Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly see additional repercussions from Alpine?
Alpine’s comeback story took another step forward on Sunday in the Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix. Thanks to a solid qualifying effort from Pierre Gasly on Saturday, and an efficient performance from the driver on Sunday, Alpine doubled up their point total in the Monaco Grand Prix, thanks to Gasly’s tenth-place finish.
However, their comeback story is not the topic on everyone’s mind ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix.
Instead, the focus is on the opening-lap collision between Gasly and teammate Esteban Ocon. That collision launched Ocon’s A524 into the air and, following a hard crash back to the track, eventually say Ocon retire from the race due to the damage to his car:
Shortly thereafter, race officials found Ocon “wholly responsible” for the collision, hitting the driver with a ten-second penalty. With Ocon having retired from the race, that penalty was converted to a five-place grid drop, to be served in Ocon’s next race.
The story does not end there, as Team Principal Bruno Famin discussed the opening-lap collision with the media during the red-flagged race. According to Famin, Ocon’s move on the first lap was “ … completely out of line. It’s exactly what we didn’t want to see and there will be consequences,” said Famin to French outlet Canal+.
“We are going to make a tough decision,” continued Famin to Canal+. “On the first lap at the Portier, it was not the place to make a move, leaving no room for his team-mate.”
The comments touched off a storm of speculation regarding Ocon’s status with Alpine, with Sky Sports analyst Craig Slater stating on air that the team was considering sitting Ocon down for the Canadian Grand Prix. “Bruno Famin, he was actually on the pit wall with Canal+ who called him up immediately in the aftermath of that first-lap crash and Famin spoke angrily and he talked about taking a tough decision, which everyone has interpreted as benching Esteban Ocon for the next race in Canada,” started Slater on Sunday.
“What I can say to you is that that is still a serious consideration for the Alpine boss, Bruno Famin. He will do what is best for the team,” continued Slater. “But if he decides that leaving Esteban Ocon out for a week as a demonstration of how team discipline needs to be, he is prepared to do that, but that decision has yet to be taken.
“There were face-to-face meetings between Ocon and Famin in the aftermath of the Grand Prix yesterday. Ocon apologised, both privately face to face and publicly afterwards via social media. So let’s see what happens.”
Later on Sunday Ocon, Gasly, and Famin all addressed the incident in the team’s post-race media report. Ocon took complete responsibility for the collision, apologizing to the team for his “mistake.”
“I made a mistake today so I apologise to the entire team for the incident and the retirement. In the end, the team scored points as we set out to do and that’s the most important thing for our ambitions,” said Ocon in the team’s media report. “There was too much damage sustained to my car to resume the race despite the best efforts of the team during the red flag stop. We will review everything as a team and come back stronger together. We are all pushing to score points. Mistakes do happen and we move on.”
Gasly, who called the tenth-place finish and the point a “deserved result” for Alpine, stated in passing in the team’s post-race report that Alpine “will review many things.”
As for Famin, the Alpine team boss tempered his words, in contrast with the comments made to Canal+.
“As a team we will review and manage the incident between both cars behind closed doors,” said Famin. “We must avoid situations that have the potential to compromise the team.”
Adding to the speculation was a report from Ted Kravitz, on his post-race “Ted’s Notebook” broadcast. ““Let’s trot on down into Alpine because there is a story afoot, because Esteban Ocon almost took out his team-mate Pierre Gasly,” began Kravitz.
“Famin said that a decision will be made, Ocon put a tweet out saying ‘that’s absolutely my fault’, but the team aren’t letting us even try to talk to Bruno Famin about what this direct consequence will be for Esteban Ocon,” continued the legendary F1 analyst. “I will say that I saw Famin on the roof of the Alpine pit building, he called Jack Doohan, the reserve driver, over for a chat. They had a chat. I don’t know what the chat was about. And then Jack Doohan left and went down the stairs.
“Now, I know that’s not exactly Woodward and Bernstein and Watergate, but it’s all I’ve got. “Does that mean that Famin is going to penalise Esteban Ocon for doing what he told him not to do, by benching him for Canada? Maybe. Is he going to put Doohan in the car? Maybe.
“But that’s all I’ve got for you. Sorry I can’t be more definitive about it. But yes, things are afoot. Things are afoot at the Alpine team.”
So will the matter end there, with Ocon back in the fold in Montreal next week, albeit facing a five-place grid drop as imposed by the race officials in Monaco? Or will he face additional repercussions from the team, potentially in the form of a benching for the Canadian Grand Prix?
Stay tuned.
