Esteban Ocon’s Alpine exit was a dramatic one, with relations between the two parties deteriorating rapidly. Ocon’s incident with teammate Pierre Gasly, in combination with the team’s reaction, marked the beginning of the end for their partnership. With Ocon set to join Haas in 2025, he has reflected on his time at Alpine.
Ocon says Alpine ignored driver feedback
A common topic in F1 circles is whether driver feedback can meaningfully influence development.
There is disagreement about how far the upgrades that teams introduce can be attributed to drivers.
With that said, there is no denying that drivers inevitably work closely with engineers. Their observations are necessary for the team to understand the real impact of updates and simulation data.
Because of this, transparency and trust between both sides is necessary.
Speaking to Motorsportweek, Esteban Ocon made clear this area is lacking at Alpine:
“There’s a lot of things that have not evolved the way they should have been.
“On my side, on Fernando’s [Alonso], on Pierre’s [Gasly] side, on Danny’s [Ricciardo] side, we said a lot of things on the car development.
“And unfortunately, at some stage, there’s been a loop missing. Where we’ve been giving the feedback, but not really having the feedback coming back to us and the confirmation.
“Sometimes we haven’t been listened to the way we should have been, I would say.
“We have been carrying some issues we still had a couple of years ago.”
Alpine face upward battle in the development race
For a variety of off-track and on-track reasons, the last eighteen months have been very difficult for Alpine.
Results have become progressively worse, with key figures (Alonso, Ocon, Piastri, etc.) turning away from Enstone.
In response, a series of managerial changes – including Flavio Briatore’s arrival – have been implemented. A new engine deal with Mercedes is also on the cards for 2026.
Whilst Alpine are considering a radical change in direction, it remains to be seen if their quite fundamental limitations can be addressed.
