Nightmare period
In recent days the Alpine has once again been at the center of discussions among experts for the announcement of the separation – which will take place at the end of the season – by Esteban Ocon. The transalpine driver has been with the Enstone team since 2020, with which he also achieved a historic victory in the 2021 Hungarian GP. The great crisis at the beginning of 2024 in terms of performance and results, however, gave the final blow to an already frayed relationship.
The great escape
Ocon is yet another figure who separates from the Losanga group in recent years: from Abiteboul to Szafnauer, passing through Brivio, Rossi, Prost, Permane, Fry, Budkowski and White, there has been a shower of defections and farewells in all roles. Extreme blows to the credibility of a project currently led by 62-year-old Bruno Famin. The team’s other driver, Pierre Gasly, is also frantically looking around and could take another seat next year. It should not be forgotten that already in 2022, in the space of a few days, Alpine had managed to lose Oscar Piastri – at the time the team’s promising third driver – and the veteran Fernando Alonso.
Nobody is attracted to the Alpine
The former Renault driver Jolyon Palmer, today commentator for the official Circus channel, F1TVput the Anglo-French team in the crosshairs, underlining how it has become a sort of ‘black hole’ that pilots try in every way to avoid. “Basically, the drivers are all looking for seats in all the other teams. Nobody wants to go to Alpine“. A complicated situation to manage but which could favor the young Jack Doohanfielded by the team in FP1 in Canada: “Now Alpine is in big trouble – declared Palmer again – what will they do? Now Jack Doohan had, out of nowhere, a golden opportunity“.
