Esteban Ocon has been a roaring success with Alpine, picking up the team’s only Grand Prix victory two years ago in Hungary in a chaotic race.
The Frenchman has been paired the two-time world champion Fernando Alonso during both of his seasons with Alpine and has shared a tense relationship with the Spaniard, especially towards the end of their time together.
Alonso was already frustrated with Alpine as he was forced to retire from a massive six races in 2022, leading the 41-year-old to grow tired of the team and their reliability issues.
While Ocon experienced mechanical problems of his own, they were not as frequent as Alonso’s, leading the pair to engage in a war of words as Alpine were accused of treating Ocon more favourably.
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As tensions grew between the Alpine drivers, on track incidents became more frequent, similar to Ocon’s relationship with Sergio Perez during his time with Force India.
Ocon and Alonso collided in Brazil, causing the Spanish veteran to claim that he is counting down the days until he can complete his move to Aston Martin as he was sick of both Ocon and Alpine.
While Alonso was penalised for the incident in Brazil, Ocon has been warned by his team principal Otmar Szafnauer that similar incidents with his new teammate Pierre Gasly would be unacceptable.
“He needs to probably make better judgements when his teammates are next to him, because you don’t win it on the first lap, teammate or not,” said Szafnauer via The Mirror.
“If you’re aggressive against a competitor, and you both go out, you both lose.
“If you’re aggressive against the teammate, and you both go out, guess who loses? So it’s just that better judgement, and get them later. If we need reminders, I’m happy to remind him.”
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The worrying thing for Alpine is that Ocon has previously had problems with his new teammate Pierre Gasly, as the pair shared a frosty relationship when competition in the junior categories.
Despite their previous issues, both drivers have claimed that they have matured since their youth and are confident of maintaining a successful and harmonious relationship over the coming seasons.
With Gasly and Ocon being the same age, there could be a power struggle in the team as both drivers seek to become regulars on the podium, meaning Alpine will have to carefully manage their new driver pairing in 2023.