“It’s getting personal” worry for Esteban Ocon over “team player” concerns
"There’s been a couple of incidents too many, now. You start to think ‘is it personal?’"
Concerns have been floated about whether Esteban Ocon’s relationship with Alpine teammate Pierre Gasly is getting “personal”.
Alpine confirmed that Ocon would exit the team at the end of his contract this year, following the F1 Monaco Grand Prix where he angered his employers after making contact with Gasly.
But last weekend in Austria, the two Alpines fought fiercely at times before Gasly finished 10th, and Ocon 12th.
Gasly took time to consider his response after the race, before telling Sky Sports: “A bit more room would be better for all of us. I’m in control of my car, not the other car…
“It’s Formula 1, at the end of the day. I know it’s always going to be hard racing.”
Gasly was content with Alpine’s handling of their on-track battle: “I was happy. I told them to let me take care of it. I just had to find a way to get past him.
“Sometimes it’s good. We’ll review it after the race.”
Ocon’s response was: “It was a normal battle. All good. It was hard and fair racing.”
Ocon still has not confirmed where he will drive next season, after exiting Alpine.
But Sky Sports’ Naomi Schiff wondered if team bosses could be put off Ocon due to his willingness to battle with teammates. He has previously drawn the ire of Gasly’s predecessor Fernando Alonso.
“It’s been a busy weekend for him,” Schiff said.
“From qualifying where we felt, looking back at it, that was almost deliberately trying to drop his teammate out, when they were so tight for time.
“The battles they had out there…
“He’s a driver without a drive, at the moment. I don’t know what he’s doing for himself, to the other teams up and down the paddock, to show that he’s a team player, and he’s doing everything he can to focus on the benefit of the team.
“It felt as if they managed their relationship, Pierre and Esteban, until this point.
“Now it feels like it’s getting personal.
“We only see from the outside. We don’t know exactly. But there’s been a couple of incidents too many, now. You start to think ‘is it personal?’
“Then, you see what he does to Fernando Alonso and think ‘that’s just the way he races…’”
James was a sports journalist at Sky Sports for a decade covering everything from American sports, to football, to F1.
