Overall, the 2024 Monaco GP was not a modern classic. However, the first lap of the eighth Grand Prix of the year in particular caused a lot of discussion – and conflicts off the track. In addition to the collision between Kevin Magnussen and Sergio Perez, the focus was mainly on the internal team dispute at Alpine.
In the Portier curve, Esteban Ocon attacked his teammate Pierre Gasly with a daring maneuver in the battle for tenth place. There was a collision and Ocon took off. The race was over for the Frenchman. Gasly was able to continue and maintain P10, but the 28-year-old and Alpine team boss Bruno Famin sharply criticized Ocon.
Danner on Ocon maneuver: That doesn’t work
Former Formula 1 driver Christian Danner also joins the ranks of Ocon’s critics in the latest issue of the ‘AvD Motorsport Magazine’. “That was obviously stupid, far too aggressive and I would unfortunately say: typical Ocon,” is the 66-year-old’s ruthless analysis.
“That’s not possible and it’s just stupid. It really doesn’t achieve anything and for once they were actually relatively competitive,” Danner continued. “So both of them were in a position to score points. And jeopardizing something like that is very counterproductive, very destructive to the team. In that sense, I wasn’t surprised that Bruno Famin was really angry.”
Danner demands: Doohan instead of Ocon for one race
Famin, who has been Alpine team boss since the 2023 summer break, announced consequences for Ocon after the race. The Frenchman left open what exactly these might look like. “As a boss, I actually have to say: ‘My dear friend, you sit out a race and now Jack Doohan will drive. Period,'” Danner advocates an extreme approach to sanctioning the events. “Then Ocon will learn.” Doohan, third in the 2023 Formula 2 season, is currently a reserve and simulator driver at Alpine.
According to Danner, a less consistent method of punishment could result in a lack of long-term learning effect. “If he does it differently, just with a lecture, then that will go in the left ear and out the right ear,” predicts the long-time RTL commentator.
Alpine with worst start to the season since factory comeback
And that is precisely what cannot be in Alpine’s interest, argues Danner: “Because the attitude that Ocon is driving with is just exactly the wrong one for a team that is already struggling to get back on its feet somehow.” Alpine is currently experiencing its worst Formula 1 season since its comeback as a Renault works team in 2016. The team from Enstone, Great Britain, had only managed to score one point up until the Monaco GP. Gasly’s tenth place in the principality added another point – despite the Ocon collision.
Nevertheless, Alpine slipped back to second to last place in the constructors’ championship in Monaco. Alexander Albon secured Williams’ first points of the year in 9th place. Although Williams and Alpine are on the same number of points, the traditional team with Grove can claim the better individual result.
Consequences for internal team collision: Danner sees Mercedes as a role model
So for Alpine, any chance of scoring points in 2024 is worth its weight in gold. That’s why the collision in Monaco weighs particularly heavily on Danner. “And that’s why I think he (Famin; ed.) has to make a tough decision after sleeping on it for two or three nights. So that he can finally have peace of mind on this matter for the rest of the year, when we still have an incredible number of races ahead of us,” said Danner. “And the only language he (Ocon; ed.) understands is: You’re going to sit out a race now.”
Danner cites the Mercedes team duel between Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton as an example of what tough measures can do to drivers. The two Silver Arrow drivers collided several times during their time together as team rivals. At the 2016 Spanish GP, a collision at the start caused a double retirement.
“Toto Wolff intervened quite rigidly and said: ‘You pay for your own damages’,” recalls Danner. “I think Rosberg had to pay $350,000 and Hamilton $450,000. Now you can say that if someone earns $20, $30, or $50 million, they don’t care about $300,000. But it’s different with Ocon,” believes the 35-time GP starter.
That’s why Danner also considers such a punishment to be a plausible option: “A very tough financial penalty is also something that could work.” At the same time, Danner adds: “A break for Ocon would certainly be more sustainable.”