Esteban Ocon on his departure fromAlpine : "It's the team's decision"

If he will not compete in this last Grand Prix of the season, Esteban Ocon is well present in the Abu Dhabi paddock. A presence that inevitably attracts all eyes as the end of its collaboration with Alpine was somewhat rushed and chaotic.

As a reminder, the Norman was notified by the French leadership that he would not be considered for this final round, while Jack Doohan was requisitioned to replace him. A decision taken in order to allow him to participate in the end-of-season tests with Haas, although the reality would actually be a little more complex. 

“Starting the next chapter in the best possible way” 

Since then, Esteban Ocon has limited himself to a reaction on his social networks while his name had barely been mentioned by Alpine in his press release. The person concerned then wanted to speak publicly to go into a little more detail in front of the press in Abu Dhabi. 

It is near Canal +, in an interview that will be broadcast in full over the weekend, that the future Haas driver gave, implying that he had nothing to do with it. 

« It's a bit of a sad ending, and not the one I wanted after 5 years of working with the team., he regrets. It was the team's decision. It was important for my future to be able to ride [on my side] with my next team in Abu Dhabi. The team (Alpine) didn't leave me [SO] to [doing post-season testing with Haas] if I did the last race so we had to conclude that we shouldn't do this last race and start the next chapter in the best possible way. It's sad because I wanted to thank all the people who worked with me during these five years, all the engineers at Viry, at enstone... »

ALSO READ > Esteban Ocon's first reaction after his ouster fromAlpine : "This is not how I wanted things to end"