- Alpine Formula 1 team won’t renew Esteban Ocon’s contract at the end of the 2024 season
- Ocon’s only had one F1 win and two additional podium finishes
- Alpine’s undergoing an operational restructure
Esteban Ocon will leave the Alpine Formula 1 team at the end of the 2024 season, the team announced on Monday.
His contract expires this year and the team said the two parties mutually agreed not to renew it.
In a statement, Ocon said he will announce his future plans shortly, though it isn’t clear whether that will include a seat at another F1 team.
Ocon first joined Renault in 2020, with the team rebranding to Alpine in 2021, the year he scored his first and only F1 win. That was at the Hungarian Grand Prix. He has also made two additional podium finishes during his career which dates back to 2016, when he started at former team Manor.
Although he received a lot of flak for his failed attempt at overtaking teammate Pierre Gasly at the recent Monaco Grand Prix, a move that ended the race for Ocon while also causing damage to Gasly’s car, his departure from Alpine isn’t solely attributed to the incident.
The team is currently undergoing a wider operational restructure that has also led to the recent dismissal of Rob White, the team’s veteran operations director who has been at Alpine—and previously Renault—for the past two decades.
A replacement for Ocon will be announced at a later date. Team Principal Bruno Famin has previously mentioned Mick Schumacher, the son of F1 legend Michael Schumacher and a current reserve driver at Mercedes-Benz AMG, as a potential driver for the squad.
Current Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz is also on the look out for a new seat, after it was announced in February that current Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton will takeover Sainz’s seat at Ferrari in 2025.
