{"id":27447,"date":"2024-12-01T13:22:39","date_gmt":"2024-12-01T18:22:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/?p=27447"},"modified":"2024-12-01T17:21:59","modified_gmt":"2024-12-01T22:21:59","slug":"jack-doohan-could-replace-ocon-in-abu-dhabi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/12\/01\/jack-doohan-could-replace-ocon-in-abu-dhabi\/","title":{"rendered":"Jack Doohan set to replace Esteban Ocon in Abu Dhabi"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Alpine are expected to replace <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/12\/01\/esteban-ocon-i-hope-alpine-are-treating-me-equally\/\" target=\"_self\">Esteban Ocon<\/a> with Jack Doohan at the Abu Dhabi GP. After five years at Enstone, Ocon is set to depart prematurely after a disappointing Qatar GP and an extended spell of worsening relations with the team.<\/p>\n<h2>Doohan set\u00a0to replace Ocon for the season finale in Abu Dhabi<\/h2>\n<p>Ocon&#8217;s relationship with Alpine has rapidly worsened over the last few months.<\/p>\n<p>Their partnership first came under major strain in Monaco, when the 28-year-old made contact with teammate <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/03\/28\/pierre-gasly-alpine-recovery-could-take-until-end-of-the-year\/\" target=\"_self\">Pierre Gasly<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Since then, a variety of on and off-track factors have further increased tensions.<\/p>\n<p>After last weekend&#8217;s race in Las Vegas, Ocon was left questioning the gap to his teammate.<\/p>\n<p>Following another disappointing qualifying yesterday, when asked if Alpine were giving him equal treatment, he simply responded &#8211; <em>&#8220;I hope so.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a id=\"Reovgjx5T1x5eHHGqUbazg\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/2181465490\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'Reovgjx5T1x5eHHGqUbazg',sig:'8JZ40NsfrVfV4vmP8iDpGwrs0bAkmF4_VkZFSaKWi-8=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'2181465490',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n<h4>Driver-team relationship quickly deteriorates<\/h4>\n<p>With Ocon sceptical about his delta to Gasly in recent events, his trust in the team is at an all-time low.<\/p>\n<p>According to <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.the-race.com\/formula-1\/shock-ocon-doohan-change-expected-at-alpine-for-abu-dhabi-gp\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">numerous reports<\/a>, Alpine are going to pull the trigger and make a driver swap at the season finale.<\/p>\n<p>This is not the first time there have been suggestions that Ocon could be replaced mid-season.<\/p>\n<p>In the immediate aftermath of his Monaco incident with Gasly, there were also suggestions that Doohan could take his place at the Canadian GP.<\/p>\n<p>However, at the time, Alpine opted against such drastic action. On this occasion, it seems that Oliver Oakes&#8217; team is willing to follow through.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/08\/23\/alpine-confirm-jack-doohan-will-drive-for-team-in-2025\/\" target=\"_self\">Jack Doohan<\/a>, who is set to drive for Alpine in 2025, will reportedly drive alongside Pierre Gasly next weekend in Abu Dhabi.<\/p>\n<p>There are many indications that today might have been Ocon&#8217;s final race with Team Enstone.<\/p>\n<p>His post-race comments certainly indicate a swap could happen:<\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;I would like to thank the team for their hard work in the race and throughout the year.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a id=\"yliC9eWfSw5htX2D3bAzEQ\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/2187721389\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'yliC9eWfSw5htX2D3bAzEQ',sig:'4XsXtnP3llHet2NwLETLWa5WDYd8MQIP6dC7XmDC8aY=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'2187721389',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n<h4>Several changes at Alpine<\/h4>\n<p>Aside from his magical Brazil podium, the last twelve months have been especially positive for the Frenchman.<\/p>\n<p>Ocon&#8217;s struggles have become particularly acute since Alpine&#8217;s COTA upgrade package.<\/p>\n<p>In any case, not for the first time, an Alpine driver is leaving the team on sour terms.<\/p>\n<p>Ocon will look ahead to next season and the beginning of his <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/07\/16\/esteban-ocon-set-to-join-haas-in-2025\/\" target=\"_self\">partnership with Haas<\/a>, when he will race alongside Oliver Bearman.<\/p>\n<p>From the Alpine perspective, putting Doohan into the car for the season finale gives them an opportunity to asses the Australian&#8217;s pace and give him vital experience for 2025.<\/p>\n<p>Although Doohan is unlikely to match Ocon&#8217;s pace in such last-minute circumstances, Team Enstone seem satisfied to give the Australian an opportunity.<\/p>\n<p>In the background to this evolving story, Alpine are also understood to be <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/11\/30\/franco-colapinto-alpine-still-in-negotiations-with-the-argentine\/\" target=\"_self\">in talks with Franco Colapinto<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Whilst it is unclear what Alpine&#8217;s plans are for the Argentine, there is certainly interest in the 21-year-old.<\/p>\n<p>Not for the first time in the last few years, there are plenty of on and off-track developments at Team Enstone.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Alpine are expected to replace Esteban Ocon with Jack Doohan at the Abu Dhabi GP. After five years at Enstone, Ocon is set to depart prematurely after a disappointing Qatar GP and an extended spell of worsening relations with the team. Doohan set\u00a0to replace Ocon for the season finale in Abu Dhabi Ocon&#8217;s relationship with [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4927,"featured_media":23232,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[2220,1567,2412,465],"class_list":["post-27447","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-formula-1","category-news","tag-2024-formula-1-season","tag-alpine","tag-doohan","tag-f1-news"],"modified_by":"Jaden Diaz-Ndisang","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27447","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4927"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27447"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27447\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23232"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27447"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27447"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27447"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}