The Formula One team Alpine, are at present something of a shambles. Their car is overweight and a number of their senior personnel have either been ruthlessly sacked or decided the rule from corporate Renault on high is not the way a modern F1 team should be managed. When the team decided to sign Pierre Gasly, eyebrows were raised in the paddock given the rocky history he and Esteban Ocon have shared.

Yet two French drivers piloting the cars of the only French team in the sport appeared to be good for marketing and national pride. Yet the recent downgrade in the French governments credit ratings appeared to be mirroring the downgrade the team are experiencing in F1.

 

 

 

Gasly not Alpine’s first choice

Of course Pierre was not the team’s first choice to replace the departing Fernando Alonso as they confidently declared on social media that Oscar Piastri would be taking his place. Yet Alpine had been shoddy in their preparation of the legal contract binding the young Australian to the team, and the shark that is Zak Brown exploited this error which has proven to be McLaren’s gains and Alpine’s loss.

Gasly is on the record during his maiden F1 year in 2018 recalling fond memories he and Esty had has children. They lived 30 minutes apart and race at the same karting track. Speaking to the ‘Beyond the Grid’ podcast Pierre revealed all this was set to change following an incident at the Bridgestone Cup in 2009.

On the final corner of the last lap Gasly challenged Ocon for third when the pair collided. Pierre came out of it in better shape and clinched the final podium position at the chequered flag – this angered Ocon greatly. Pierre reveals the relationship got significantly worse as they went on to challenge for “the World Cup, European Championship, and also National Championship,” Gasly revealed.

On the announcement of Gasly’s recruitment by Alpine, ex-F1 driver and Sky F1 analyst, Karun Chandhok predicted to The Express: “I think there will, 100 percent, be fireworks.”

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Bad blood remains

Then at the launch of Alpine’s F1 challenger for 2023, it was clear Esteban was not impressed with his new team mate. ‘“I don’t think we will ever be best friends but that doesn’t matter really as long as the atmosphere is great inside the team, and that’s how it is at the moment and that’s how it will remain during the year,” explained the French driver.

Ocon has a reputation for blue on blue incidents with team mates and Fernando Alonso came to comically refer to him as “our friend” over team radio. During commentary at the 2022 Belgium Grand Prix, Paul di Resta gave his thoughts on the issue: “I don’t think too many teammates get on with Ocon, to be honest. You heard Fernando on the radio. They work together on track but off it? He can be quite difficult. Sergio Perez had the same issue,” observed the Scott.

The sacking of Alpine team principal Otmar Szafnauer less than eighteen months into the role and right before last season’s summer break appears to have had a detrimental effect on the team. The then CEO of the Alpine operation Bruno Famin was appointed as the replacement team principal. Again eyebrows twitched behind closed doors in the piranha club. 

Famin has a chequered history, his engineering degree was awarded. From the National School for arts and crafts??? Most of his life has been working for Peugeot Sport managing customer racing teams then he was appointed technical director for Peugeot Sport in 2012 before ending up at the FIA in 2019 where he had the title of ‘director of operations’ for the rather vague “sports branch.”

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Alpine drivers had specific instructions

Bruno was recruited by Renault to be CEO of Alpine in February 2022 and his political connections appear to have led him to persuade the Renault main board that Szafnauer was thew wrong man for the job of F1 team principal and instead it would be he who would turn around the fortunes of their sports car brand named team.

Time will tell whether Famin is yet another team principal in the revolving door that is the entrance to their factory in Grove. Bruno’s people skills have been called into question and its now clear he has no clue how to manage two highly competitive F1 drivers whose sole aim is to get one over the other. The recent incident on lap one in Monaco as the red flag was being waved demonstrates this clearly. 

Esteban Ocon tried an irrational move to overtake his team mate at Portier before the tunnel. The result was his own car was launched two metres into the air and damaged behind repair. Gasly too suffered with some loss of downforce for the remaining 77 laps after the restart yet heroically came home in P10 to score Alpine’s second point of the year to date.

In the round of media interviews following the race in the principality, Gasly was still clearly furious over the incident. “It was a clear instruction from the team on what [not] to do, what we were supposed to do, and this wasn’t respected [by Ocon]. I’m just glad we managed to get out of it with only some front wing damage and a couple of things, and luckily with the red flag we managed to repair it,” Pierre explained.

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Alpine team boss ‘melt down’

Meantime Famin was the point wall team boss for the French commentary of the Monaco grand Prix and to say he lost his mind  over the matter would be an understatement. “This kind of incident is sad,” he said on Canal+ during the race. “This is exactly what we didn’t want to see. Esteban’s attack was completely out of circumstance… We will draw the consequences. We’re going to decide whilst it’s still raw.”

Ocon took the unusual step of changing into his civies before the restart and was seen casually leaving the pit lane and failed to return to support his team for the remainder of the race. He later took to social media, presumably having heard his team bosses comments on his behaviour, taking full responsibility and apologising for his behaviour yet consequences now loom which will se him replaced for the Canadian Grand Prix.

Jack Doohan is now being touted as a replacement for Esteban Ocon at next weekend’s F1 Canadian Grand Prix. Experienced pit lane reporter Tom Clarkson now says claims on this weeks F1 nation podcast: “There’s a bit of a rumour around the paddock that Jack Doohan could get his grand prix debut in Canada.” He confirms his source is reliable and close to the Alpine decision making.

“Jack did do a brilliant job on Friday night for the team,” Clarkson continues. “He flew on Friday from Nice to the UK. He goes to Enstone. On the simulator he works on various set-ups until 3.30am. He doesn’t go to bed. He flies back to Monaco, and is in the paddock at 9am in the morning.”

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Doohan touted to replace Esteban

Doohan is credited with finding the setup which saw Alpine make Q3 for the first time this season with Gasly finishing P10 and Ocon just one place further back. 

“I’m not saying Ocon deserves to be replaced by Doohan”, continues Clarkson. “But I do think Jack is impressing the team. And as they work out what to do with their driver line up in ‘25, Jack is doing all the right things to, at least, be high up on the list of possibilities.”

Whether Ocon is stood down for the coming weekend in Montreal will come down to Bruno Famin. Due to his unpredictable character and public outburst of anger on Canal+, he may feel he is backed himself into a corner and must retain the ‘hard man’ image he at times projects. For sure its not ideal for Jack Doohan to debut in such a poor F1 car and without any proper testing. 

Yet the son of the legendary bike world champion Mick will grab the opportunity with both hands and his performance when measured against Gasly will aid the team as they explore their options for the yet undecided 2025 Alpine driver lineup.

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Hamilton on drugs and losing

Lewis Hamilton had the gut wrenching experience of seeing his record breaking eighth Formula One world title snatched from his grasp with less than a lap remaining of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in 2021. The Mercedes star then went dark, leaving his millions of fans on social media wondering of he would even return for the following season.

Yet like him or not, Hamilton is a competitor and he came back only to discover his all conquering Mercedes team had failed to grasp the new car design rules and no longer could Lewis cruise to victory with ease week in and week out… READ MORE