Alpine considers all options, even replacing Esteban Ocon after Monaco incident
Alpine is taking stock of its options, including a possible driver change for the Canadian Grand Prix, to ensure that there are no more problems between its drivers as was the case during the start of the Monaco Grand Prix.
The French constructor almost saw its two cars leave the Monaco Grand Prix, from the 7th turn of the first lap, after Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly collided at the exit of Portier. Ocon had attempted an optimistic maneuver on the inside of Gasly at the entry of the turn. The incident threw Ocon and seriously damaged his car as he landed, taking him out of the race. Gasly was able to continue and scored his first point while the other French driver was penalized with a 5-place grid penalty for the next race in Canada.
Ocon then took full responsibility for the incident and apologized to the team. He was sanctioned by the FIA with a 10-second penalty, which will be converted into a five-place grid penalty for the next race in Montreal and explained on social media: « Today’s incident was my fault, the gap was ultimately too small and I apologize to the team for it. Hoping that the team scores deserved points today.
The team manager, Bruno Famin, was clearly far from impressed by what had happened and expressed his anger from the pit wall during a live interview with Canal+. “We have a lot of damage to the car. The rear left suspension is bent, the gearbox casing is damaged. We are changing the entire gearbox, it’s a huge amount of work. This kind of incident is sad, it’s exactly what we didn’t want to see,” he said.
« We will take drastic measures. » These are Famin’s words after the race. Interpreted by some as a direct threat to Ocon, as punishment for what was seen as an unnecessary collision. Famin has not made any other public statements about his position regarding the incident or any subsequent actions, beyond the team’s official statement on Sunday evening. In it, he stated: « As a team, we will review and address the incident between the two cars behind closed doors. We must avoid situations that could compromise the team. »
Alpine under the spotlight
The French team, which has been in a complicated situation since the beginning of the season. They cannot afford to miss opportunities to score points, so they asked their drivers to show caution when fighting each other. It seems that the rule was supposed to apply in Monaco as well, as Gasly revealed later, claiming that the rear car should assist the front one.
We had clear instructions before the race on what needed to be done, and the one who qualified ahead, the following car was supposed to help throughout the race. That was the strategy. Unfortunately, this did not happen, explains the French.
No decision has been made on what will be done, but it seems that Alpine will do whatever it takes to ensure that there will be no repetition in the future. Several solutions are being considered, which could include financial penalties, team orders preventing Ocon and Gasly from fighting for position at all, or even as a last resort: a driver change .
Another possibility could be that Alpine follows the path that Mercedes had taken in 2016 after constant collisions between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. At the time, Mercedes had developed a code of conduct that both drivers had agreed to abide by, with a clear warning that any indiscretion would likely result in a race ban for one race.
All eyes are now turned towards Enstone to see what drastic measure will be taken to do what is best for the team.
