Esteban Ocon shouts at Alpine engineer after fuming at Gasly over Japanese GP collision.
Alpine driver Esteban Ocon lost his cool with his race engineer at the Japanese GP after being told to "push now" after a collision with teammate Pierre Gasly. The coming together happened on the second restart at Suzuka after the race was red-flagged on Lap 1 as VCARB ace Daniel Ricciardo and Williams' Alex Albon ended up in the tyre barrier heading into Turn 2.
08:15, Sun, Apr 7, 2024
By Joshua Mbu
Daily and Sunday Express

Alpine's struggles continued in Japan as the team went without points again and nearly suffered a double DNF as their drivers collided. "Pierre gave me a hit at the side, let me know if it's okay," Ocon fumed. As the race progressed with the team still lacking behind its rivals, an Alpine race engineer later told Ocon: "OK Esteban we need to push now please, push now."

However, the race engineer's insistence only irritated Ocon. Alpine has been one of the worst cars on the grid in 2024 and is yet to score a point this season, and tensions are boiling over. "I am pushing what are you talking about!" Ocon snapped back.

‘Alpine's struggles’;

https://www.express.co.uk/sport/f1-a...ly-Japanese-GP


Esteban Ocon fumes at Pierre Gasly as Alpine F1 team-mates collide at Japanese GP
Alpine have endured a wretched start to the 2024 F1 season and moods at the Enstone team will not have been boosted by a touch between drivers Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly at Suzuka
07:08 Sun, 07 Apr 2024.
By Daniel Moxon Senior F1 Writer
The Mirror

Esteban Ocon accused team-mate Pierre Gasly of hitting into his car in a terse radio message at the Japanese Grand Prix. The front-right tyre of Ocon's car hit into the sidepod of the other Alpine, while Gasly's rear-left returned the favour. And the contact left the former very unimpressed and clearly of the opinion that his fellow Frenchman was at fault.

"Pierre gave me a hit at the side, let me know if it's okay," he yelled over the radio. He would have been relieved when race engineer Josh Peckett informed him that, from what the team could see, there had been no damage done.

It was clear that they had both been far more fortunate than the two drivers who were already out of the race. Ricciardo and Albon's touch was very slight but enough to send them both off track and into the tyre wall at Turn 2.

‘Esteban Ocon fumes’;

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/formu...lpine-32529334


Near disaster for Alpine as Ocon and Gasly collide
Sunday 7 April 2024 08:45, UK
Sky Sports

Alpine team-mates Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly collided with each other during the Japanese Grand Prix.

‘Near disaster’;

https://www.skysports.com/watch/vide...-gasly-collide


Ocon reveals he picked up damage after contact with team mate Gasly on Lap 1
07 Apr 2024
Formula One - Official Site (Video)

Esteban Ocon finished P15 in Japan and described the race as “very tricky” – not least because he damaged his car after making contact with his Alpine team mate Pierre Gasly on the opening lap.

“Very tricky”;

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/v...341987621.html


Alpine crisis: Could this be the end of their current F1 lineup?
April 8, 2024
Andrew Maitland
Grandpx.news

Acknowledging the looming possibility that either or both Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly might part ways with the embattled squad by year-end, Alpine has braced itself for such an outcome. The Renault-backed team, despite its official partnership, found itself lagging with the season’s slowest vehicle post-winter tests.

Upgrades, including a new front wing and much-needed weight cuts, were introduced at Suzuka, though Sunday’s race revealed negligible improvement in Ocon and Gasly’s performance.

“We were very aggressive on strategy,” Ocon disclosed to Canal Plus, “and we were in the game with the others at one point. But we weren’t fast enough to keep them behind. It was a good test to see exactly where we are,” he continued.

‘Alpine crisis’;

https://grandpx.news/alpine-crisis-c...ent-f1-lineup/


Alpine prepared to lose both drivers for 2025
Alpine is "prepared" for the eventuality that Esteban Ocon or Pierre Gasly - or both - will abandon the crisis-struck team at the end of the year.
10:07 Mon, 08 Apr 2024.
GrandPrix.com

Team boss Bruno Famin says the next updates will only be added to the car in Miami, and insists that he is also trying to install “a better process and a better organisation” at the Viry and Enstone factories.

Both Ocon and Gasly, however, might clearly accept any offers to jump ship for 2025 - potentially good news for the rookie reserve driver, Jack Doohan. “I think he has been trained and he will be trained this year with quite a long testing program”, Famin said. "We are going to start soon because we need a car, we need a chassis to run that program.”

“After that, the driver market is going to be very dynamic”, he admitted. "Right now, I can say that we are happy with the drivers we have. But we are prepared for any scenario. Jack needs to test to keep growing - let's see what his future will be. But it's a bit early to answer that question.”

‘Alpine is prepared’;

https://www.grandprix.com/news/alpin...-for-2025.html


Gasly rode out ‘very difficult' Japanese GP with damaged Alpine
08:45 Tue, 09 Apr 2024
Phillip van Osten
F1i.com

"I had an amazing first start, I managed to move up three positions,” Gasly recounted after the race.
"The second start was very good, I managed to pass Esteban and get alongside Yuki and then unfortunately, I got sandwiched – Yuki turning left, Esteban right, and [he] ultimately touched me on the left side of my floor.”

"After that, I was down something like 40 points of downforce, that it was pretty much game over – I was trying to stay out there, hoping for another red flag to make changes. It was just a racing incident, but it cost us a lot. It was a very long, very difficult afternoon."

“I got sandwiched”;

https://f1i.com/news/504934-gasly-ro...ed-alpine.html


ALPINE SALE RUMOURS EMERGE AMID KEY RENAULT DEMAND
Alpine’s disappointing start to the Formula 1 season has already fuelled talk that its parent company Renault could consider offers to sell the squad.
Apr 10, 2024, 12:10 PM
Motorsport.com

However, according to information gathered in recent weeks, any possible sale of the outfit would likely be on the condition that any new owner would continue to use Renault engine power for the foreseeable future.

The opening four races of the 2024 season have confirmed Alpine is in a difficult spot, with it standing last in the constructors’ championship on zero points with Sauber and Williams.

However, it appears to be the least competitive out of the three and, to make matters worse, it is not a customer outfit but a full-on works squad with car giant Renault behind it.

‘ALPINE SALE RUMOURS EMERGE’;

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/a...mand/10597127/


ALPINE F1 TEAM RESPONDS TO RUMOURS OF A POTENTIAL SALE
Enstone team's future has been the subject of speculation following disastrous start to 2024
April 10, 2024
James Phillips
FormulaNerds

Alpine responded to the rumours as they quickly gained traction, confirming the team is not for sale. As reported by PlanetF1, an Alpine spokesperson said:

“The rumours and stories about the team being for sale are false.
The team is categorically not for sale.”

What were the rumours? Speculation first began to emerge on Wednesday morning when motorsport.com stated a sale of Alpine was potentially on the cards. No interested parties were listed.

‘False rumours’;

https://www.formulanerds.com/news/al...otential-sale/