Official – The adventure is over between Alpine and Ocon, replaced by Doohan in Abu Dhabi

The rumor that had been growing in the paddock even before the start of the Qatar Grand Prix was therefore true: Esteban Ocon competed in his last Grand Prix with Alpine in Losail. The Norman, who retired at the first corner after a collision with Franco Colapinto, will not compete in the last Grand Prix of the season, in Abu Dhabi on December 8. He will be replaced by the future regular driver of the arrowed A, Jack Doohan, who will therefore experience his very first Grand Prix at the age of 21 in Formula 1 a little earlier than expected, at Yas Marina.

Esteban Ocon will have therefore competed in 106 Grand Prix with the teamenstone since his arrival at Renault and will have won four podiums and a victory, at the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix, the only one ofAlpine in Formula 1 to date. Speaking to Canal+, after his retirement on the first lap at Losail, the French driver already seemed aware that his adventure with the arrowed A had just come to an end. “It was a short race for us, unfortunately, he confided. A racing incident I think, between the three of us. Unfortunately, we all got a bit sandwiched on that side of the track, and it affected more than it should have. I would like to thank the mechanics, the engineers, for all their efforts all year.

TEAM STATEMENT​@jackdoohan33 will race at the #AbuDhabiGP in place of Esteban Ocon pic.twitter.com/EcdCZrZTJA

—BWT Alpine Formula One Team (@AlpineF1Team) December 2, 2024

One way to test Doohan

How can we explain this turnaround and the end of the adventure with one round to go, when the Norman and the French team were celebrating the double podium in Brazil together last month? Since then, the Evreux native seemed light years away from Pierre Gasly in pure performance, assuring that it does not understand the reasons behind this clear decline in performance. In its announcement press release, Alpine claims to have relieved the Frenchman of his obligations, so as to allow him to participate in the end-of-season tests with HaasThe reality would actually be a little more complex, since the Norman was granted permission at the end of the summer to drive with the American team without giving up his steering wheel in Abu Dhabi. Côté Alpine, this will allow to test Jack Doohan, the regular driver for next year, knowing that the Argentinian Franco Colapinto is also considered for next year.

In addition to the incredible podium achieved in Brazil in rainy conditions, the Evreux native experienced a difficult end to the season with Alpine. Regularly beaten by his teammate Pierre Gasly in qualifying, Esteban Ocon was struggling with an A524 that did not suit him. More generally, the 28-year-old driver had an eventful campaign in 2024, with several tense moments between him, his teammate and his team. In Monaco, he was guilty of a collision with Pierre Gasly and already, the first rumors of a replacement by Jack Doohan had surfaced for Canada. Finally, Alpine and Esteban Ocon had decided not to extend the contract which bound them until the end of 2024, the Frenchman having found refuge at Haas from 2025.

Jeremy Satis and Dorian Grangier

ALSO READ > Zhou surprises, not Perez… the weekend notes in Qatar