When it comes to teammate friction in Formula 1, Esteban Ocon has earned a reputation as one of the most explosive and uncompromising drivers on the grid. Ocon’s philosophy is simple: he treats his teammate as his primary enemy. While this fierce internal competitiveness makes him incredibly fast, it has repeatedly pushed his teams to the absolute brink of civil war. From explosive on-track collisions to frosty radio exchanges, here is the history of Esteban Ocon’s iconic F1 teammate issues.
The Blood Feud: Sergio Pérez (Force India, 2017–2018)
This was the rivalry that defined Ocon’s early career and established his reputation. Paired with the equally stubborn Mexican driver Sergio Pérez at Force India, the two young drivers refused to give an inch, resulting in a series of incredibly expensive and dangerous crashes.
The climax came across three race weekends in 2017. After a near-miss in Canada, the fuse blew completely in Baku where they collided, ruining a potential double-podium. The terrifying peak occurred at Spa, where Pérez squeezed Ocon towards the concrete wall at 180 mph coming down to Eau Rouge, leading to a massive collision.
The team’s management was so exasperated that they had to institute a strict “No Racing Each Other” policy, threatening to bench whichever driver caused the next crash.
The Fierce Rivalry: Fernando Alonso (Alpine, 2021–2022)
Initially, Ocon and the legendary Fernando Alonso enjoyed a great partnership—Ocon even credited Alonso for helping him secure his maiden win in Hungary 2021. But by 2022, as Alpine fought for best-of-the-rest in the midfield, Ocon’s defensive driving became uncompromisingly hostile.
With Alonso already set to leave Alpine for Aston Martin, tensions boiled over at Jeddah in 2022. Ocon spent laps aggressively chopping across Alonso, nearly putting both cars into the pit wall. The breaking point came at the Brazil Sprint race, where the two collided twice on the opening lap, destroying Alonso’s car.
A thoroughly fed-up Alonso snapped over the radio:
Fernando Alonso: “Engine side, aerodynamics, everything is lower than number 31 [Ocon]… I lost a front wing thanks to our friend. One more race and it’s over, finally.”
Even to this day, when the pair find themselves squabbling over the same piece of race asphalt, Alonso still refers to his former French teammate ironically as “our friend.”
The Flashpoint: Pierre Gasly (Alpine, 2023–2024)
Following Alonso’s departure, Alpine paired Ocon with fellow Frenchman Pierre Gasly, and the paddock collectively held its breath. The two had been childhood karting friends whose relationship famously soured as they rose through the ranks. While they managed a professional truce initially, it eventually exploded.
The ultimate climax came at Monaco in 2024. On the very first lap, ignoring strict team instructions to hold position, Ocon launched a desperate, hyper-aggressive dive-bomb on Gasly at Portier. The collision launched Ocon’s car into the air and forced him out of the race.
To make matters worse, the race was red-flagged at that exact instant. Team Principal Bruno Famin was furious, publicly promising immediate “consequences.” Shortly after, Alpine announced that Ocon’s contract would not be renewed, effectively firing him over his inability to race cleanly with his teammate.
The New Era: Rebuilding at Haas alongside Oliver Bearman
Ocon subsequently found a home at the Haas F1 Team following a decision by Nico Hülkenberg to leave for the formative Audi project. Simultaneously, Haas decided to recruit Ferrari Academy driver Oliver Bearman.
Bearman had famously stepped in for Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz the previous season when the Spaniard required urgent medical care for an appendicitis. The young Briton qualified his SF-24 in P11 and brought it home in a remarkable P7, scoring points on his debut.
In Bearman’s full rookie season, he embarrassed his senior teammate by finishing three points ahead in the drivers’ championship. Now, Bearman is leading the charge for Haas once again, having scored all but one of their 19 points.
Monaco has a habit of exposing pressure points inside teams, and Haas found its own fracture line opening in plain sight during Friday practice. On a circuit where traffic is an inevitability and patience is the only currency that matters, the Haas duo found themselves at odds. A sequence of blocked push laps triggered instant frustration on both sides, escalating what should have been a routine traffic-management issue into a pointed exchange.
‘What an Idiot’: Radio Fire Erupts in Monte Carlo
The flashpoint occurred when Bearman, embarking on consecutive flying laps, found himself caught in Ocon’s path. The encounter left the Frenchman visibly irritated as he tried to navigate the congestion of Monaco’s narrow corridors.
Ocon took matters into his own hands, aggressively overtaking his rookie teammate into the Anthony Noghes turn—the final corner—before venting to his pit wall:
Esteban Ocon: “He doesn’t have to f*** my laps twice as well, you know, on the fast laps.”
Bearman was equally unimpressed by the veteran’s track positioning and retaliated with a blunt assessment to his own race engineer:
Oliver Bearman: “What an idiot, man. That was so stupid from Esteban.”
With both drivers accusing the other of compromising their Friday run plans, the internal bickering threatened to spiral beyond a typical practice misunderstanding—a scenario Team Principal Ayao Komatsu will be desperate to squash before competitive sessions begin.
Damage Control: Ocon Moves to Defuse the Flare-Up
By the time the chequered flag fell on the second practice session, tempers had cooled. With no further on-track compliance issues, Ocon attempted to downplay the radio fireworks, framing the spat as a simple case of cross-garage miscommunication.
Esteban Ocon: “It’s fine, because Ollie was getting blocked like three times. The problem is that I wasn’t getting blocked [by other cars], I was only getting blocked by him. As soon as that was communicated, we swapped places and it was fine.”
Adding fuel to the internal competitive fire was the stark contrast on the Friday timesheets. In his second full season in F1, Oliver Bearman excelled by breaking into the top 10, while Ocon struggled for ultimate single-lap pace, languishing down in 17th position.
Despite the deficit, the one-time Grand Prix winner remained dismissive of the Friday hierarchy:
Esteban Ocon: “It’s tomorrow that matters. It’s only practice, only FP2, so we’ll see where we are tomorrow.”
The Haas management will be desperately hoping the pair do not qualify close to each other for Sunday’s Grand Prix. Given Ocon’s history, any close proximity on the grid carries the potential for an explosive race
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With over 30 years of experience in Formula 1 as an insider journalist, I have built trusted connections across the paddock, from race engineers and mechanics to senior team figures. At The Judge 13, I and a handful of trusted colleagues share exclusive Formula 1 news, expert analysis and behind-the-scenes stories you will not find in mainstream motorsport media.
A.J. Hunt is Senior Editor at TJ13, where Andrew oversees editorial standards and contributes to the site’s Formula 1 coverage. A career journalist with experience in both print and digital sports media, Andrew trained in investigative journalism and has written for a range of European sports outlets.
At TJ13, Andrew plays a central role in shaping the site’s output, working across breaking news, analysis, and long-form features. Andrew’s responsibilities include fact-checking, refining editorial structure, and ensuring consistency in reporting across a fast-moving news cycle.
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