The internal Alpine duel entered the next round at the Austrian GP. Contractually, everything was settled with the extension of Pierre Gasly, but not so within the team. No space between him and (still) teammate Esteban Ocon, neither on the track nor in the war of words. Or: “Wow,” as Fernando Alonso would say.
Pierre Gasly freaks out on the radio: Did you see that?
Esteban Ocon in P10, Pierre Gasly in P13 on the starting grid for the eleventh Formula 1 race in 2024. That promised drama. It began in the middle stint, when Esteban Ocon could not find a way past Fernando Alonso for a long time. “We’re losing time now!” Pierre Gasly, who was driving directly behind him, was already getting restless.
“Wow,” said Fernando Alonso, commenting on the maneuver, which he witnessed from the front row. What had happened? The Frenchmen battled for eighth place for laps – sometimes very aggressively with borderline attacks and defensive maneuvers. On lap 41, Gasly finally managed to get past, although Ocon defended himself unusually wildly within the team. “Ciao!”, the 28-year-old couldn’t help but say goodbye after the tire-to-tire maneuver.
“It was intense. Some would say it was a bit too much,” said Pierre Gasly after the race. “I’m sure the pit wall wasn’t happy that I had to drive off the track because they didn’t give me any space.” Postscript: “I would have expected a bit more space from a teammate!”
Esteban Ocon as a black sheep: Doesn’t stick to Alpine agreements?
The accusation: Esteban Ocon once again failed to adhere to the clear team agreements. “I can only control what happens in my car, not what he does,” Pierre Gasly says, somewhat frustrated after several incidents of this kind. “But it is what it is.” The topic has been discussed so many times within the team.
“That was tough and fair racing. Nothing more to comment on,” says Esteban Ocon, who sees it quite differently. “Just good racing. That was it!” Although without the time loss, Gasly could theoretically have made it past Daniel Ricciardo and Kevin Magnussen to P8.
Despite everything: Pierre Gasly was (again) the winner in the internal team duel. After extending his contract, the ex-Red Bull driver finished tenth in Spielberg, scoring his 400th point in Formula 1. An important (ninth) point for Alpine. Especially because Haas had a dream weekend at the Red Bull Ring. Read more in this article: