Ocon on Alpine exit: “This is not how I wanted things to end”

Esteban Ocon won’t take part in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix after Alpine agreed to let him join new team Haas early… on the condition that he gave up his seat immediately to let Jack Doohan make his debut.

It means Ocon’s season - his fifth with the team - comes to an abrupt end, just weeks after he scored Alpine’s best result of 2024 by finishing on the podium alongside teammate Pierre Gasly in Brazil.

Combined with Gasly’s sensational P5 in Qatar, those points have propelled the team from a lowly ninth in the constructors’ championship to sixth: if it holds onto that position, it’ll be worth tens of millions of dollars in prize money. Some thanks, huh?

And lest we forget, Ocon gave Alpine its most unforgettable result to date when he took the chequered flag at one of the wildest F1 races in living memory, leading the Hungarian GP from start to finish in 2021 after a crash in the first corner wiped out several cars.

His early exit was confirmed on Monday, but we didn’t hear from the man himself until yesterday evening.

“I would like to first and foremost thank the mechanics and engineers across all functions at the track, Enstone, and Viry-Châtillon who have raced alongside me these last five seasons,” he said. “We have shared so much together, and I am proud to call many of you my friends.

“I leave Alpine/Renault with great memories and the pride of having been the driver who brought the team’s best results since its return to the sport, climbing the top two steps of the podium in Bahrain, Hungary, and Brazil. It was also an honour to play a part in finishing P4 in the Constructors’ Championship in 2022. I know how much all of those moments meant for everybody and feeling that sense of achievement and joy alongside the team is what I am taking away with me.”

He went on to admit that it had been a difficult year (his departure from the team was hastily announced in June after he barged into Gasly in Monaco), and apologised to the “hard-working men and women at Enstone and Viry” that his appearance for Haas at the post-season shakedown in Abu Dhabi meant he wouldn’t be able to say farewell in person. “This is not how I wanted things to end.”

Still, he finished off by saying he would “like to wish nothing but great things to my friend Jack as he takes this next big step in his career at this week’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.” Nice touch.

You can see the logic, but with only a five-point cushion over Haas in the battle for P6 (and a lot of money), is it wise to chuck a rookie into the fray at such short notice? We shall see…