Prepare for a new dynamic at Alpine

The first lap of the Monaco Grand Prix was going to be the catalyst for a lot of attention surrounding the Alpine drivers, but the events of the last 24 hours have only increased that focus.

Every time I watch Esteban Ocon’s move on Pierre Gasly towards Portier, I have a contradictory reaction. It’s actually a very good pass attempt considering Monaco’s challenges and the fact that a single point could very well have depended on its success. And he’s about to succeed.

If Ocon can better control his speed on the exit, he could prevent his car from crashing into Gasly’s, thus ending his own race. And if it were two drivers from different teams fighting for the last place in the top 10, the gamble would be well worth it.

But this is not the situation, even in appearance. It wasn’t worth taking the risk against your teammate because, as close to success as Ocon was, the likely outcome is what he got. One of the cars was eliminated from the race and if it hadn’t been for a red flag, both would potentially be out of the points.

After that, it didn’t take long for more team orders to be added, with team principal Bruno Famin making it very clear that the drivers had been informed in no uncertain terms that qualifying would be crucial and that the lead car on Saturday, he would benefit from the support of the second car during the race to help Alpine try to score a point.

A point which would double the team’s total for the season after such a difficult start to the year, let’s not forget.

So it was much less about the movement itself, and more about the fact that Ocon decided to only do a few turns in a race for which he and Gasly had very clear instructions.

Besides, it wasn’t even the first time they came into contact during this first round; the couple having bumped wheels at Mirabeau at the top of the hill. Once again, both men appeared to be on the wrong side of the line on multiple occasions.

And I use the term “both of them” because you always have to take into account the other car and whether better decisions could have been made in the split second that both drivers had on track.

But it’s fair to say that there have been several occasions where Ocon has been involved in incidents with his teammates in the past, and that highlights one of his weaknesses.

Before we get into that, let’s focus on his strengths and why his departure from Alpine at the end of this season is a big deal. Ocon gave the team its only victory under the Alpine banner in 2021, without putting a wheel wrong under pressure from Sebastian Vettel throughout the race at the Hungaroring.

He also took full advantage of his opportunity in Monaco a year before to secure a podium place, following his first podium in that crazy race won by Sergio Perez at the Sakhir Outer Loop circuit in 2020.

Ocon is very fast, and it is to his credit that he can list a number of high-quality opponents that he has regularly faced in the same machine.

“I was fortunate to race alongside talented and experienced teammates, including winners Daniel (Ricciardo), Checo and Pierre, and double champion Fernando (Alonso),” he wrote this week. “As teammates, we often started races very close to each other, which in some cases involved difficult battles on track, and sometimes contact.”

But take each of these drivers in isolation and compare their incidents with other teammates from different teams to those of Ocon, and the trend is that they are more likely to occur with the Frenchman.

It would be a mistake to ignore Ocon’s point about where they tend to start too – Ricciardo had years where he was rarely near Lando Norris, Gasly and Perez alike in their spells alongside Max Verstappen, and Alonso has tended to be the lead car in teams for most of his career – so the likelihood of being on track together is naturally higher. And you could spot several moments between Mercedes and Ferrari drivers over the past 12 months that show it’s almost inevitable.

But, rightly or unfairly, Ocon has a reputation he needs to shake on this front. Even when there is no contact or both cars escape unscathed, Ocon can be guilty of racing his teammate a little too hard and allow his aggressive approach to take over. overall situation of the team.

It’s a very fine line, but it gives the impression that the 27-year-old can be difficult to deal with when it comes to his approach towards a teammate. And it’s a factor that has been brought up whenever he’s been linked to a Mercedes seat in the past, so even bigger opportunities have potentially eluded him because of it.

He’s now entering a new phase where he likely has a next move already planned – or at least close to being finalized – and has less need to prioritize Alpine over what he feels is best for himself. Gasly, on the other hand, could still end up staying with the team beyond 2024 and will have a different view on certain topics.

Famin’s comments in Monaco that there would be consequences for Ocon after the first-lap incident could well have meant an acceleration in the direction of a separation of the two sides, but it is not for Alpine to make a decision based on the last race, nor Ocon the same. In a way, the consequences are therefore inconsequential.

This will become a more difficult situation to deal with as the season wears on and Alpine finds itself in high pressure situations trying to score points. Ocon is not the type of driver to back off and cruise through the end of his time with the team, and certainly not if he is faced with the (admittedly unlikely) scenario of still having to earn his next seat.

He’s also good enough to regularly be able to challenge for the team’s best result each weekend, all of which adds up to more potential situations where both cars are fighting for the same piece of tarmac.

This is usually a good problem if your drivers keep it largely clean, but with Ocon leaving at the end of the year and no real need to change styles, the way he and Gasly approach future scenarios will be worth monitoring.