29/05/2024
NEWS STORY
Alpine boss, Bruno Famin has said that Esteban Ocon faces "drastic action" following the first lap clash with his teammate on Sunday.
Admittedly, the words were spoken in the heat of the moment, minutes after the incident which saw the Frenchman make a foolhardy attempt to pass his teammate as they headed towards the tunnel.
Though it was hoped that both cars would restart the race, which was in the process of being red-flagged due to the incident further back involving Sergio Perez and the Haas pair, Ocon's car was too badly damaged.
"We have a lot of damage on the car," a fuming Famin told Canal+ in a live interview moments after the crash. "The left-rear suspension is bent, the gearbox casing is damaged... we're changing the whole gearbox, it's a huge amount of work.
"This kind of incident is sad," he continued, "it's exactly what we didn't want to see. Esteban's dive was completely out of place, it was exactly what we didn't want to see, and there will be the appropriate consequences."
Asked what he meant by "appropriate consequences", he replied: "We're going to take drastic action."
This has been widely interpreted as Ocon possibly being dropped, perhaps for one race or even for the remainder of the season.
Of course, Ocon has history, but then so does Gasly, and many have pointed to the latter's move on his teammate earlier in the lap which could have resulted in an incident similar to the Perez crash.
Though the pair were friends as children, during the course of their racing careers such was the rivalry that they fell out, and when Alpine took the chance on uniting them many within the F1 paddock were surprised.
Both drivers are out of contract at the end of the season, and recent speculation has had both of them looking elsewhere.
Reserve driver Jack Doohan could be called on to replace Ocon in Canada - where the Frenchman will take a 5-place grid penalty - though Mick Schumacher, who is part of the French outfit's WEC programme, could also step in.
The fact is that Alpine needs every point it can get, and while Gasly went on to finish tenth, this merely doubled the team's 2024 points tally which was opened by Ocon in Miami, another race where the pair almost came to grief.
Indeed, mindful of the tension between its drivers, and the need to increase its points tally, the team had instituted a policy whereby the driver who qualified highest up the grid would have the support of his teammate, who was under instructions to assist him.
"We had clear instructions before the race on what to do, and whoever qualified ahead, the trailing car was supposed to help throughout the race," said Gasly. "That was the strategy. Unfortunately, it didn't happen."
Ocon, who is managed by Toto Wolff, has been linked with both Mercedes and Haas, while Alpine is understood to have been looking at a possible line-up involving Schumacher and Guanyu Zhou for next season.
Famin has a number of options to consider over the days before the Canadian Grand Prix and it will be interesting to see what he decides.