Esteban Ocon says the announcement that he will leave Alpine at the end of 2024 hasn’t created any disharmony in the team.
The Frenchman clashed with his teammate Pierre Gasly in Monaco and responded to his critics on social media after the race weekend.
When asked whether the incident would cause any awkwardness at Alpine, he said: “It doesn’t because we came to speak all together with the team.
“I talked with Bruno [Famin]. I was in the factory for normal preparation. Before the weekend, I also had a chat with Bruno, and we were just talking about a lot of things.
“There’s no awkward moment. There is no damage between our relationships altogether. Everything has been discussed, and we move on, and we keep racing to try and do the best we can.”
Ocon has had multiple incidents on track with teammates throughout his career — although most have not been his fault — and said he has always followed team orders.
“As a driver and with the team, I’ve always followed the instructions that have been given to race. So there has been no changes.”
The 27-year-old insisted that he and Alpine didn’t make a snap decision to separate after the disastrous weekend last time out.
“I’ve said pretty much everything in my statement already, but We’ve been talking with the team for several months. And Alpine is a big group. Renault is a big group, and it’s the team that is not taking decisions on just a single race. We’ve been talking.
“We’ve agreed mutually to come to an end, basically, at the end of the contract. I’ve spent five years inside this team.
“We’ve had some amazing moments, some more tough ones, but five years in terms of the Formula 1 world is a long time, definitely. I’m excited for the challenge ahead and excited to finish the collaboration on a high that I’ve been part of for a long time. So excited to be here now in Canada.”
Ocon will be replaced by Alpine reserve driver Jack Doohan in FP1 for the Canadian Grand Prix. He will also be taking a five-place grid penalty as a result of the collision in Monaco.
