- Formula 1 veteran Esteban Ocon has scored just one point across the opening eight rounds in 2024.
- Alpine is only ninth in the Constructors’ Championship.
- Ocon has one career victory in F1, that being at Hungary in 2021.
Esteban Ocon and Alpine will go their separate ways at the end of the 2024 Formula 1 season.
Ocon has had a lengthy affiliation with the team, dating back to its Lotus guise in 2014, when he was a junior driver, while he also had a spell as its test driver in 2016. Ocon joined the Alpine team in 2020, when it was Renault, and scored three podium finishes, which included a shock maiden victory for Alpine at the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix.
The Frenchman was handed a three-year deal mid-2021 and the squad started Formula 1’s new regulatory cycle in encouraging fashion, finishing fourth overall.
But Alpine regressed in 2023—despite Ocon taking a podium in Monaco—and it has slipped back further in 2024 after its A524 turned out to be a dud.
Ocon has scored just one point across the opening eight rounds and Alpine is only ninth in the Constructors’ Championship.
Ocon was also held culpable for a collision with teammate Pierre Gasly in Monaco, with the pair having had a strained relationship dating back to their teenage years, attracting the wrath of team principal Bruno Famin.
It is understood a split was on the horizon even before the events of Monaco.
On Monday, Alpine and Ocon announced that they will part company at the end of the current season. Neither Alpine nor Ocon have yet communicated their plans for 2025.
“The Enstone-Viry family has played a significant part in my life, dating back to my Lotus junior programme days,” said Ocon. “I feel incredibly lucky and privileged to have achieved the things I did with this team, from my first podium to my first win in Formula 1. These achievements truly were dreams come true.
“I’ve crossed paths with so many inspiring individuals in my time here and there are too many people to thank for their hard work, passion, and dedication to the cause. But also for their kindness and support I received over the years.
“We had many ups and certainly some downs, but all I can say is that it was an honour racing alongside you, whether you were at the factories or trackside. Still, there is a long way to go this season and my focus and energy is 100% dedicated to this team and the work we need to do together to move forward and maximise our results on track.
“Like many drivers this season, a lot has been said about my future beyond 2024. News will be announced in due course.”
U.K.-based Phillip Horton started covering Grands Prix while still at university and swiftly deemed that writing about Formula 1 and the behind-the-scenes machinations was much more engaging than reading centuries-old novels. Degree gained, he went on to cover the sport full-time from 2014 and is as intrigued and excited by the destinations Formula 1 visits during its lengthy annual world tour as the racing itself. Phillip joined Autoweek in 2021 and while he has just about learned to spell in American English he has yet to find anywhere in America that makes a proper cup of tea.
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