Official: Alpine replaces Esteban Ocon before the last race
Alpine has just officially released the information. Rumors had started yesterday evening after the Qatar Grand Prix when Esteban Ocon thanked his mechanics on Canal+. Alpine therefore thanks its driver by firing him from the last race of the season and replacing him with Jack Doohan.
Esteban Ocon will not drive for Alpine, nor in Formula 1, for the last Grand Prix of the 2024 season. The French driver has been officially replaced by Alpine, his team since 2020 with whom he has achieved 3 podiums including 1 victory.
Alpine announces that reserve driver Jack Doohan will drive at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix instead of Esteban Ocon, explains the Alpine statement succinctly, confirming the rumors started on Sunday evening. This change will allow Esteban [Ocon] to drive for Haas during the post-season tests in Abu Dhabi.
Esteban Ocon ended the Qatar Grand Prix prematurely, in the first corner, when Nico Hülkenberg's Haas hit him in the right front suspension. During his post-race interview in the TV zone, he expressed his gratitude to his mechanics during this challenging season, a surprising gesture at the end of a race, sparking rumors of his early departure.
« Unfortunately, a short race for us, a race incident between the three of us. We were on the outside, we all got sandwiched and it touched more than it should have. I would like to thank the mechanics, the engineers for all the efforts on this race, but also for the rest of the year especially. So that's it. »
It was a word that was important to me because in difficult times we continued to push through and I wanted to thank them.
When Manon David asked him how he would approach his last race with Alpine, he dodged a surprised smile, replying, "We'll see. We'll see. In the same way, I imagine."
This is the end of the collaboration between French driver Esteban Ocon and Alpine without him being able to be thanked on the track for their 5 seasons together.
TEAM STATEMENT@jackdoohan33 will race at the #AbuDhabiGP in place of Esteban Ocon pic.twitter.com/EcdCZrZTJA
— BWT Alpine Formula One Team (@AlpineF1Team) December 2, 2024
