Esteban Ocon wasn’t surprised to see Alpine drop the driver who replaced him after just seven races.
Alpine released Ocon from his contract one race early at the end of last season and promoted Jack Doohan, whom the team had already selected as his replacement for this year. However ahead of this weekend’s race Alpine announced Franco Colapinto would take over Doohan’s seat.
While Doohan’s exit was widely anticipated, not least after it was revealed by one of Colapinto’s sponsors before the last round, the departure of Alpine team principal Oliver Oakes following the last race came as a surprise to many. But not Ocon, whose exit was revealed in June last year, before Oakes even joined the team.
Ocon, who now drives for Haas, said the turbulent situation at his former team was no shock to him.
“Unfortunately it’s not really any surprise for some of the decisions that have been taken recently by the team,” he said. “I don’t have much to say.”
He joined the team in 2020, when it competed as Renault, and scored his only grand prix victory to date following its rebranding as Alpine the following year.
He said he was “sad for Jack,” who has remained at Alpine as a reserve driver. “I’m sure he’ll be back in F1 at some point. He showed some really strong moments this year where he qualified super-well and he’s also been super-quick in the car — which was good to see.
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“On the other hand, Franco also deserves to be in F1. Last year he showed some great things with the Williams car. Unfortunately, there are not enough cars on the grid to fit all the talents that are out there. But I’ve not much more to say. I’m happy where I am.”
Ocon’s former team mate Pierre Gasly said he gave Doohan all the support he could during their seven races alongside each other.
“I get on very well with Jack and Franco,” he said. “For all the months we worked with Jack, I’ve tried to support him as much as possible. He’s a great guy, I really like him and he’s got great speed.
“It wasn’t the easiest way into Formula 1 and that’s why I tried with my experience to bring as much [help] as I could because I wanted him and needed him to do well, so I did that.
“Franco is also a very good driver that’s the reason why we got him in the team in the first place. It will be interesting to see what he does. He was very competitive with Williams and we worked well with Jack I’m sure we’re going to work well with Franco.”
He added he was “sad to see Oli leave” after just nine months in charge of the team.
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“It was his personal decision and I got on very well. I think we worked extremely well and closely since he joined last summer. We had a very strong end of the year and things were very straightforward with him, very transparent and I like the sort of mindset he brought to the team.
“I’m sad to see him leave. We’ve got to respect his decision and accept it.”
Alpine’s executive consultant Flavio Briatore has taken over Oakes’ role. “Flavio is going to take more duties into the team, it doesn’t change the direction or the ambition, everything remains as business as usual and we just move on with it,” said Gasly.
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2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix
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