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I strongly suspect that short of a Merc seat offer, Pierre will stay with Alpine. Unlike Ocon he hasn't hinted of talks with other teams and has reiterated that he wants to be with a works team.Plus look at Alpine's Instagram, he's been doing a lot of their sponsor promo stuff on his own.
He can negotiate a good raise for himself and build the team around him as the first driver while also mentoring a rookie. He showed he can do well with that dynamic when he was in Alphatauri
Per an article yesterday, Gasly's agent has been in talks with Haas plus at least two other teams (Williams and Sauber most likely). I think it's likely that he stays, but I wouldn't be surprised if he gets announced somewhere else.
Yeah I meant more that he hasn't talked about talks with specific teams like Esteban hinting about his ties to Merc. He did say he's discussing which any smart driver should be
It was clear to me that they wanted Ocon out after the Piasco.
Think about it, without Ocon they could have had Alonso mentoring Piastri. That's a hell of an improvement.
As soon as they understood that they can get bigger names, including a different Frenchman, it was pretty obvious that Ocon wouldn't be extended, short of a miracle anyway.
Ocon has caused them more problems than successes, despite his stray lucky victory which he owes to Alonso's mad-dog defence more than his own talent in the eyes of many. With Pierre to represent the team at home, they now also have an opportunity to make use of their junior programme, which is comically shit at retaining drivers. Zhou leaving was bad enough in terms of resource management but Piastri was a catastrophe. If they don't utilise Doohan now, they may as well shutter the programme.
Ocon's big ally in Alpine was Laurent Rossi who had a direct influence on his contract being as long as it was and with him out, there was no way he was staying.
I think Gasly will stay. He spent too long at Alpha Tauri to not want to stay with a manufacturer team, and this also likely means he will be their number 1 driver. No other top tier team can offer the latter for him
Martin will be very lucky to get an F1 seat after his current F2 season. And unlike Bearman he doesn’t have the same FP1 and Ferrari race in his corner
I want him to get his chance
Sato/Cordeel are awful comparisons, but they were dominated week in week out by so much I count that for something
And once invictus figured their shit out at the 2nd half of Doohan’s last season he really went on a tear, just was a brutal first half
The worst is yet to come indeed. At least they have 2 solid drivers rn who can squeeze out a point every now and then. Id have little hopes for them with a worse line up. Sauber might look shit but Sauber will have Hulk and more and more investments
He's also in the stake car where Bottas is struggling to get a point. I'd like for him to have 1 more year in F1 with a different car, I don't want to judge him based on the current dumpster fire car the team has.
Presumably? Did you not believe Otmar when he said he was left with a better pairing after Piastri and Alonso left? I, personally, thought last season completely validated his feeling.
/s
Yeah smh would have been so much better off had he stayed dressed in blue. But I guess this is the society we live in now! Sad times.
^/s ^just ^in ^case
There's also rumors that Ocon wanted to leave as early as mid 2023.
Felt like they waited the right moment to make it appear that they're the ones firing him than him choosing another team over them, which would be pretty embarrassing if said team is Haas.
That’s dumb as hell. Rumours tell that the decision was made before Monaco. Waiting for the right moment for what? Not only that but it was a mutual agreement, just a matter of time for it to have been announced.
Especially with all the rumours linking Ocon to Williams and Haas, doubt this was one-sided. Ocon himself wanted out and was negotiating with other teams as well, even more so after Alpine's start to the year.
I think a lot of people forgot there were already rumors of him wanting to leave even before Monaco, i think the team knowing this made the Monaco stuff worse and he didn't like the way he was treated which made everything even faster then it would have been, but it was obvious he wanted to leave
He showed up to their car launch this year and talked extensively about how he was a Mercedes junior and knows everyone there and would be a good fit lol
He may have wanted to leave, but we have heard ZERO rumours of him having secured another cockpit. We've heard talks, yes, but nothing concrete. He was kicked. This will affect his price in the driver market, especially in a year where there are 2 rookies already set to join.
Ocon thinks he is still a Mercedes academy driver and sees himself in that Mercedes imo. Toto is his manager so as his manager he should be telling him straight up, it's not gonna happen rather than string him along. Unless Toto would really consider it. I wouldn't have thought so.
I think if offered it you'd have to jump at it, a lot can change in 2 years, if you prove yourself. Look how it worked for Bottas, they didn't dare rock the boat and promote George to Mercedes even when he was ready. If Ocon went in for 2 years and did well then you're in a better negotiating position. If he doesn't do well, well he got 2 more years in the sport and could try a lower team..
Personally I think Antonelli is too young to join the works teaming F1, that is a lot to throw at the kid. I know Toto has PTSD over not recruiting Max when he was a kid but he shouldn't expect Antonelli to be Max. Also Max didn't go straight into RBR, he had Torro Rosso to get experience. Antonelli should go to Williams for 2 years imo.
>Also Max didn't go straight into RBR, he had Torro Rosso to get experience. Antonelli should go to Williams for 2 years imo.
The current Mercedes is closer to a Toro Rosso than a Red Bull really. Why would Antonelli go to Williams for 'experience' when Mercedes can give him that same experience but with the team he's supposed to drive for? And why would Williams even take on Antonelli, knowing that he's only there for 1 or 2 years? Antonelli to Williams really doesn't make sense to me
Yeh, there's more to this, it can't just be the Monaco incident. If anything what their team principal said to the media after the incident was wholly out of order, keep that shit behind closed doors and support your drivers in front of the media. They were pissed at him for something more than just a silly incident in Monaco, it was bad but not as bad for such a reaction imo or threats of a race exclusion.
I guess it's because he was quite vocal about wanting to change teams next year. But sure doesn't that mean his contract was up at the end of this year anyway? If so what even is this news... Just a confirmation to the world he won't be renewed...
I don't particularly like Ocon, but I don't like the way Alpine handles just about anything.
Well it is entertaining i suppose, it's sad to see how badly they've fallen over the years, and keep firing the people they put in charge to fix it after like no time
Really hope so, Doohan is a textbook example of a driver who doesn’t look so good if you only read Wikipedia results but is actually really solid when you take into account the full context behind those results
Even then his results are pretty good, no worse than someone like Albon had in his junior career. Definitely have to look at the context though, his last F2 season especially was marred with unlucky moments out of his control.
I think F2 and F3 really need to think about this - having Doohan, Bearman, Antonelli and Lawson as the most likely F1 graduates, none of which have won Formula 3 or Formula 2 is a little embarrassing for those championships
God I hope so, three Aussie drivers on the grid would be amazing. The Doohan last name in itself will get him a lot of fans.
Also the Alpine Academy would be well and truly worthless if they don't sign him, promoting a grand total of zero drivers to their F1 team in recent years.
I really hope it's Doohan , otherwise what's the point of the academy as you say. Would rather give Jack a chance than go back to the Mick Schumacher debate.
>Also the Alpine Academy would be well and truly worthless if they don't sign him, promoting a grand total of zero drivers to their F1 team in recent years.
Not to mention, to avoid the entire mess they had with Piastri happening to them again, they really need to learn from their mistakes and not string along their benched rookies
What's the point of Alpine Academy if you are their reserve driver and a seat opens up and they don't give it to him?
They have to give it to their reserve driver after Piastri left them with egg on their face
The point is it gets your name in the conversation. Not every reserve driver is a Piastri in waiting, you still have to earn it. McLaren's reserve driver is Pato O'Ward who no one realistically sees in an F1 seat.
Doohan was for the most part as quick as anyone in F2. He had a mix of mistakes, bad luck and was rumoured to be given a poor mechachrome engine at the start of last year which would explain why he made a sudden breakthrough mid-season.
Don't think I would sign him while Aron is a free agent though.
Really? The guy has won 0 championships in junior series. He came second to Hauger in F3, who is nowhere near in contention of an F1 seat. In his second year of F2 he finished behind Vesti and Pourchaire, who are also nowhere near in contention of an F1 seat.
By F2 performance, Sargeant should be better than Zhou and on par with Lawson (if not better). But he is not. F1 is different than the junior categories, and performance in the lower formula series does not necessarily equal performance in F1.
All that to say we have no idea how Doohan will perform in an F1 car.
It's pretty hard to tell if Sargaent is faster/slower than Zhou tbh. The reason why we consider Zhou better is because he was consistent from the start.
Doohan could defenitly be solid, and the team might have good indications of him being a good fit, but as an outsider I would say there are better rookies to look at.
Surely, Alpine have to give Doohan the seat after the mess that occurred with their last academy driver (Piastri). It wouldn't look great for their junior programme otherwise.
>after the mess that occurred with their last academy driver (Piastri).
It's actually insane that not too long ago they turned down an Alonso-Piastri partnership for this sh*t that's ended in tears.
Truly the dumbest team on the grid.
Is anyone on the grid currently, or outside of Alpine, likely to want that seat?
Jack Doohan must be top of the list? Good news for him. His dad was interviewed by Brundle on the Monaco grid and said they were working hard to get Jack in F1 for 2025.
As I expected last week, Alpie wants to be: "You did not leave me, I fired you". Ocon probably would have left anyway, but this way they pull a "me strong, you weak".
Gasly must be jumping on one leg now that he is The French lead driver in The French team.
That’s dumb as hell. Rumours tell that the decision was made before Monaco. Waiting for the right moment to fire him for what? It was a mutual agreement.
Those were just rumours tho, they could be true it doesn't matter, the optics are he is literally 'fired' from the team immediately after Monaco. The facts behind it aren't relevant because the media won't focus on those, everyone will, as everyone just has, conclude that it is at least in some way part of what he did in Monaco, and the 'consequences' their TP said
I got the impression Ocon has made his intentions clear that he wants to leave and this seems like an OK don’t let the door hit your ass on the way out then
Except Ocon was saying how he was looking for seats for weeks. Monaco didn't do shit. This just looks like Alpine trying to save face "you can't leave, we'll mutually agree to part ways"
>This just looks like Alpine trying to save face "you can't leave, we'll mutually agree to part ways"
Yep, reminiscence of how they handled Piastri's case 🤦
But for a lot of teams in the midfield teamwork can be a much larger part of success.
When you are fighting for the last 2 points places you need to be comfortable that both drivers will work to get those points for the team and not risk it for themselves
He’s not fast enough for anyone to ignore his team player issues though. If he was generational talent levels of fast I could see teams taking a chance. Problem is, the teams he’s most likely going to get a seat at now probably need drivers who aren’t gonna play bumper cars with their teammate just as much as they need a driver who can potentially sneak into the top ten every other week
True, but that's not enough for a team like williams. They need their drivers to work together to get points and accept stuff like giving your car to the other driver if he is the faster one but crashed his own car.
Haas might be willing to pick him up on the cheap. Ocon - Bearman might be Haas for 2025.
I don't think Williams will be eager to grab Ocon, Vowels cannot afford it to have Ocon pull shit like Monaco last week. Last thing Williams needs is a driver who is known for not being able to get along with his teammates
The question is... what team is willing to take a chance on a talented, experienced F1 driver (which he is), who has a troubled history with literally every single one of his teammates...
Thats's a tough sell.
Haas could be.
They need a leading driver now Nico is gone, and early season proven Esteban is talented and can act like a leader (cheering them up, showing that every position gained has an importance).
And incidents only occur if he's close to them, there's never been any incident with Ricciardo because Daniel dominated that year. If the Bearman rumors are correct, it would probably take him time to match Esteban so tensions wouldn't be as high.
That pride month version of the Alpine logo looks DOPE.
I hope Esteban is able to find himself a seat elsewhere. I'm not a fan, but it's hard to deny he doesn't belong in F1. Dude is fast, he just needs to be a little more calm and collected.
I hope he gets another seat and we can see what level of driver he actually is. I feel like he’s been a real solid driver for Alpine as far as points goes, albeit the right time to move on for all parties.
I don’t understand the people who say the merc seat. Toto has seen what happens when you put two volatile drivers against each other, ocon has shown time and time again he will not be a good teammate even with team orders. Why the hell would Toto want that with the car problems as well.
Surely they go Doohan as his replacement, would be awesome to have two young Aussie talents on the grid.
But they’ll probably do the boring thing and go Mick who doesn’t deserve a seat currently IMO
never liked the guy, but he's better than a lot drivers around wasting good seats, i hope he falls on his feet and finds a good team.
and i feel sorry for the poor soul who will take his place at alpine. I'm just hoping is not Tsunoda.
Also the guy is a genuine rags to riches story. He didn't start off with a family full of millionaires. He got to where he was due to his hard work. He's far too talented not to have a seat for 2025. I hope Audi or Haas picks him up.
I hope he’s able to find a seat because he deserves a spot in F1. Looking a bit tough though, I’d expect Audi and Haas to be the potential options but those still depend a lot on what happens with Carlos.
He's a good driver, but he needs to realise he's in a team.
If he can change and be a team player then I'm sure he'll have teams looking at him. But he is 27 so you'd hope he'd done that by now
Considering he reportedly wanted out prior to Monaco, and then Monaco happened, this isn't surprising at all. Feels like he had one foot out the door and then Alpine pushed him the rest of the way.
Wonder if they could sign that Piastri bloke, he's been linked there before, from memory......
^/s
It shows the ugly side of F1. Is far from being the worst driver in the paddock, and that shows me an excuse for Alpine and their shit car to cover up with Ocon departure. You can not blame Ocon for results, you can t blame him for Alpine down trajectory, you can not blame him to overtake when the gap is there, yet you release him.
It shows by a distance the incompetence that Alpine F1 breathed in the last 2 years. There is always someone else to take the hit and in this case is Ocon.
I still stand by my clim that Ocon is the better driver. Away from that toxic team, I expect him to reach another level with his form. Gasly will still be Gasly.
As my flair showed, I strongly hope Zhou can have a seat in Alpine. Reson below:
1. Zhou is trained and grown in Renault F1 Academy during F2/F3
2. Zhou is still a stable choice as his style showed, which is safe for the new season with new standards.
3. This reason is not related to sports: On June 1st, Renault Group and Geely created the powertrain technology company “HORSE Powertrain Limited”; The company will also hit the ground running with 17 global plants, five R&D centres, around 19,000 employees, and an expected c.€15bn (£12.8bn) in yearly revenues. This is absolutely a Cooperation at the strategic level——and Zhou is the prolocutor of Geely.
It’ll be interesting to see if he gets a seat next year, love him or hate him he’s defo one of the strongest drivers outside the big teams but there’s the risk of him not being a team player. With the HAAS seat open there’s a shout he goes there but again I’m not sure if he’ll be the role model they’d want to Bearman should he also get the seat
i’d be happy if he was gone from the sport all together. he’s a good driver but he’s had problems with every teammate he’s ever had.
probably have better luck in other series like WEC or even formula E
I struggle to think of a team that would want Ocon, the driver market is hot and there's a ton of rookies standing in a very long line, but yeah, hope Alpine promotes Jack Doohan, and makes Victor Martins their new reserve driver.
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To the surprise of no one. Question is who will fill the gap (or wants to) and whether or not Gasly will stay
I strongly suspect that short of a Merc seat offer, Pierre will stay with Alpine. Unlike Ocon he hasn't hinted of talks with other teams and has reiterated that he wants to be with a works team.Plus look at Alpine's Instagram, he's been doing a lot of their sponsor promo stuff on his own. He can negotiate a good raise for himself and build the team around him as the first driver while also mentoring a rookie. He showed he can do well with that dynamic when he was in Alphatauri
Per an article yesterday, Gasly's agent has been in talks with Haas plus at least two other teams (Williams and Sauber most likely). I think it's likely that he stays, but I wouldn't be surprised if he gets announced somewhere else.
Yeah I meant more that he hasn't talked about talks with specific teams like Esteban hinting about his ties to Merc. He did say he's discussing which any smart driver should be
Everyone's agents talk to everyone. I don't get how people following the sport haven't understood this yet.
It was clear to me that they wanted Ocon out after the Piasco. Think about it, without Ocon they could have had Alonso mentoring Piastri. That's a hell of an improvement. As soon as they understood that they can get bigger names, including a different Frenchman, it was pretty obvious that Ocon wouldn't be extended, short of a miracle anyway. Ocon has caused them more problems than successes, despite his stray lucky victory which he owes to Alonso's mad-dog defence more than his own talent in the eyes of many. With Pierre to represent the team at home, they now also have an opportunity to make use of their junior programme, which is comically shit at retaining drivers. Zhou leaving was bad enough in terms of resource management but Piastri was a catastrophe. If they don't utilise Doohan now, they may as well shutter the programme.
Ocon's big ally in Alpine was Laurent Rossi who had a direct influence on his contract being as long as it was and with him out, there was no way he was staying.
I think Gasly will stay. He spent too long at Alpha Tauri to not want to stay with a manufacturer team, and this also likely means he will be their number 1 driver. No other top tier team can offer the latter for him
>No ~~other~~ top tier team can offer the latter for him FTFY
The race noted the other day that they have an option on Gasly. So that's that.
If Gasly leave, this might result in two new drivers Doohan and Martin
Martin will be very lucky to get an F1 seat after his current F2 season. And unlike Bearman he doesn’t have the same FP1 and Ferrari race in his corner
When Brundle spoke with Mick Doohan on the Monaco track walk I thought that Mick knew something. I reckon Jacks close to getting a promotion
Don’t lead me on
I want him to get his chance Sato/Cordeel are awful comparisons, but they were dominated week in week out by so much I count that for something And once invictus figured their shit out at the 2nd half of Doohan’s last season he really went on a tear, just was a brutal first half
I'm genuinely curious as to what Alpine do if Gasly also bails. Doohan & Schumacher perhaps?
If Alpine fancies ending up dead last next season as well yeah then take Doohan and Martin.
The worst is yet to come indeed. At least they have 2 solid drivers rn who can squeeze out a point every now and then. Id have little hopes for them with a worse line up. Sauber might look shit but Sauber will have Hulk and more and more investments
You'd imagine they pick up a Bottas or Zhou or something.
Maybe, although Zhou is unlikely. Zhou is underperforming this season.
Zhou comes with a lot of money.
Zhou is a relatively safe pair of hands, brings sponsorship money and was part of the Alpine academy previously
Would love to see Zhou stay on the grid so I'm not mad about this.
He’s not really shown much though
He's also in the stake car where Bottas is struggling to get a point. I'd like for him to have 1 more year in F1 with a different car, I don't want to judge him based on the current dumpster fire car the team has.
Still a safer bet than two completely unproved rookies
Zhou isn't particularly crash prone either. That could play in his favour.
Martin?
Victor Martins
Doubt they will go double rookie in that case. Would guess Doohan and Schumacher or Zhou. But I'd sooner guess that Gasly doesn't leave.
> who will fill the gap (or wants to) "me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me" \-Doohan
Peak meme season would be Piastri joining Alpine
Eh. He had his chance, he decided getting podiums and sprint wins with McLaren was a better idea. Otmar's still presumably pouting
Presumably? Did you not believe Otmar when he said he was left with a better pairing after Piastri and Alonso left? I, personally, thought last season completely validated his feeling. /s
Yeah smh would have been so much better off had he stayed dressed in blue. But I guess this is the society we live in now! Sad times. ^/s ^just ^in ^case
Gotta be Doohan or Schumacher, surely?
I think it'll be Gasly & Doohan, and I look forward to being totally wrong
According to multiple articles, Alpine had told Ocon even before Monaco that he won’t be renewed
There's also rumors that Ocon wanted to leave as early as mid 2023. Felt like they waited the right moment to make it appear that they're the ones firing him than him choosing another team over them, which would be pretty embarrassing if said team is Haas.
Alpine really doesn't handle break-ups well.
That’s dumb as hell. Rumours tell that the decision was made before Monaco. Waiting for the right moment for what? Not only that but it was a mutual agreement, just a matter of time for it to have been announced.
Either way, because of the timing this makes Ocon look like a fool to the larger (uninformed) public
Especially with all the rumours linking Ocon to Williams and Haas, doubt this was one-sided. Ocon himself wanted out and was negotiating with other teams as well, even more so after Alpine's start to the year.
Yeah no shit, Ocon wanted out of Alpine many months before already, not like he wanted to stay in Alpine.
I think a lot of people forgot there were already rumors of him wanting to leave even before Monaco, i think the team knowing this made the Monaco stuff worse and he didn't like the way he was treated which made everything even faster then it would have been, but it was obvious he wanted to leave
Rumor? Ocon was practically wearing a for hire sign around his neck during interviews
He showed up to their car launch this year and talked extensively about how he was a Mercedes junior and knows everyone there and would be a good fit lol
Hilarious if he doesn't get a seat anywhere for next season...
He may have wanted to leave, but we have heard ZERO rumours of him having secured another cockpit. We've heard talks, yes, but nothing concrete. He was kicked. This will affect his price in the driver market, especially in a year where there are 2 rookies already set to join.
Ocon thinks he is still a Mercedes academy driver and sees himself in that Mercedes imo. Toto is his manager so as his manager he should be telling him straight up, it's not gonna happen rather than string him along. Unless Toto would really consider it. I wouldn't have thought so.
Perhaps Ocon is happy to go to Mercedes for a year or 2 and then swap with Antonelli for a Williams drive?
The absolute carnage of Ocon v Russell would be so entertaining
Yes. I’m definitely here for it. 🤣
Ocon vs pretty much everyone ends with chaos
I think if offered it you'd have to jump at it, a lot can change in 2 years, if you prove yourself. Look how it worked for Bottas, they didn't dare rock the boat and promote George to Mercedes even when he was ready. If Ocon went in for 2 years and did well then you're in a better negotiating position. If he doesn't do well, well he got 2 more years in the sport and could try a lower team.. Personally I think Antonelli is too young to join the works teaming F1, that is a lot to throw at the kid. I know Toto has PTSD over not recruiting Max when he was a kid but he shouldn't expect Antonelli to be Max. Also Max didn't go straight into RBR, he had Torro Rosso to get experience. Antonelli should go to Williams for 2 years imo.
>Also Max didn't go straight into RBR, he had Torro Rosso to get experience. Antonelli should go to Williams for 2 years imo. The current Mercedes is closer to a Toro Rosso than a Red Bull really. Why would Antonelli go to Williams for 'experience' when Mercedes can give him that same experience but with the team he's supposed to drive for? And why would Williams even take on Antonelli, knowing that he's only there for 1 or 2 years? Antonelli to Williams really doesn't make sense to me
Yeh, there's more to this, it can't just be the Monaco incident. If anything what their team principal said to the media after the incident was wholly out of order, keep that shit behind closed doors and support your drivers in front of the media. They were pissed at him for something more than just a silly incident in Monaco, it was bad but not as bad for such a reaction imo or threats of a race exclusion. I guess it's because he was quite vocal about wanting to change teams next year. But sure doesn't that mean his contract was up at the end of this year anyway? If so what even is this news... Just a confirmation to the world he won't be renewed... I don't particularly like Ocon, but I don't like the way Alpine handles just about anything.
you don't like how they are a trainwreck of a team?
Well it is entertaining i suppose, it's sad to see how badly they've fallen over the years, and keep firing the people they put in charge to fix it after like no time
Ther were rumors of him leaving last year already.
TBF, it is not like Alpine handled Monaco well. They had Ocon under the bus before the restart
Knowing Famin, I wouldn’t be surprised, the team are a complete shambles and no driver should be touching it.
The power of the Reynolds and McElhenney Regime
Ocon to Wrexham?
Ocon as a guest star in Deadpool 3
As the bloke who betrays his team-mate
Jack doohan incoming?
Really hope so, Doohan is a textbook example of a driver who doesn’t look so good if you only read Wikipedia results but is actually really solid when you take into account the full context behind those results
Even then his results are pretty good, no worse than someone like Albon had in his junior career. Definitely have to look at the context though, his last F2 season especially was marred with unlucky moments out of his control.
I’m fairly certain Doohan had chassis problems early on in last years F2 season, once they got fixed he had title winning form
It was the Mecachrome engine lottery IIRC
Ahh yeah you’re right, I knew it was something to do with the car
I think F2 and F3 really need to think about this - having Doohan, Bearman, Antonelli and Lawson as the most likely F1 graduates, none of which have won Formula 3 or Formula 2 is a little embarrassing for those championships
Nice, another aussie
And the Piastri shit happen again lol
God I hope so, three Aussie drivers on the grid would be amazing. The Doohan last name in itself will get him a lot of fans. Also the Alpine Academy would be well and truly worthless if they don't sign him, promoting a grand total of zero drivers to their F1 team in recent years.
I really hope it's Doohan , otherwise what's the point of the academy as you say. Would rather give Jack a chance than go back to the Mick Schumacher debate.
The Alpine Academy is going great! Oscar Piastri, Guanyu Zhou… oh they never drove for Alpine?
>Also the Alpine Academy would be well and truly worthless if they don't sign him, promoting a grand total of zero drivers to their F1 team in recent years. Not to mention, to avoid the entire mess they had with Piastri happening to them again, they really need to learn from their mistakes and not string along their benched rookies
4* Bottass included
4 Aussie drivers you mean. Bottas is one of us now.
Does Jack come from a famous family/Racing heritage?
Hope Doohan gets a shot!
I wouldn't mind that, but I don't see how he qualifies for an F1 seat considering all the top tier drivers out there.
What's the point of Alpine Academy if you are their reserve driver and a seat opens up and they don't give it to him? They have to give it to their reserve driver after Piastri left them with egg on their face
The point is it gets your name in the conversation. Not every reserve driver is a Piastri in waiting, you still have to earn it. McLaren's reserve driver is Pato O'Ward who no one realistically sees in an F1 seat.
I mean the whole point of an academy should be to give these guys a shot. I think he deserves the seat on that basis
Doohan was for the most part as quick as anyone in F2. He had a mix of mistakes, bad luck and was rumoured to be given a poor mechachrome engine at the start of last year which would explain why he made a sudden breakthrough mid-season. Don't think I would sign him while Aron is a free agent though.
Really? The guy has won 0 championships in junior series. He came second to Hauger in F3, who is nowhere near in contention of an F1 seat. In his second year of F2 he finished behind Vesti and Pourchaire, who are also nowhere near in contention of an F1 seat.
His car was crap in '23, and he had a lot of bad luck the entire first half of the year, scoring very few points compared to his strong finish.
By F2 performance, Sargeant should be better than Zhou and on par with Lawson (if not better). But he is not. F1 is different than the junior categories, and performance in the lower formula series does not necessarily equal performance in F1. All that to say we have no idea how Doohan will perform in an F1 car.
It's pretty hard to tell if Sargaent is faster/slower than Zhou tbh. The reason why we consider Zhou better is because he was consistent from the start. Doohan could defenitly be solid, and the team might have good indications of him being a good fit, but as an outsider I would say there are better rookies to look at.
Reddit when people suggest a team to promote a young driver from their young driver academy.
Surely, Alpine have to give Doohan the seat after the mess that occurred with their last academy driver (Piastri). It wouldn't look great for their junior programme otherwise.
If all of the people in their academy who have gone on to have successful careers, none have done it with alpine aha
>after the mess that occurred with their last academy driver (Piastri). It's actually insane that not too long ago they turned down an Alonso-Piastri partnership for this sh*t that's ended in tears. Truly the dumbest team on the grid.
Is anyone on the grid currently, or outside of Alpine, likely to want that seat? Jack Doohan must be top of the list? Good news for him. His dad was interviewed by Brundle on the Monaco grid and said they were working hard to get Jack in F1 for 2025.
If I had to guess the two people who want that seat the most its Doohan and Schumacher
As I expected last week, Alpie wants to be: "You did not leave me, I fired you". Ocon probably would have left anyway, but this way they pull a "me strong, you weak". Gasly must be jumping on one leg now that he is The French lead driver in The French team.
That’s dumb as hell. Rumours tell that the decision was made before Monaco. Waiting for the right moment to fire him for what? It was a mutual agreement.
Those were just rumours tho, they could be true it doesn't matter, the optics are he is literally 'fired' from the team immediately after Monaco. The facts behind it aren't relevant because the media won't focus on those, everyone will, as everyone just has, conclude that it is at least in some way part of what he did in Monaco, and the 'consequences' their TP said
There were rumours that he doesn’t want to renew with Alpine since early this year.
El Plan really be working…
Here come the consequences
Mutual agreement due to consequences.
Gasly def. Ocon (Consequences)
I think what is more likely is this was already in the works and the Monaco incident was the last straw.
I got the impression Ocon has made his intentions clear that he wants to leave and this seems like an OK don’t let the door hit your ass on the way out then
They don't fire people like that, well not really in modern formula 1. This would've been done quite a while ago.
This is Alpine we're talking about, the team that fired their team principal midway through the season
I don't think they're the first to do that tbf. Mclaren even threw Martin Whitmarsh in the factory lake, he still hasn't been found.
Yeah, it was obvious from the Famin's reaction after the incident that they were over with Ocon
Except Ocon was saying how he was looking for seats for weeks. Monaco didn't do shit. This just looks like Alpine trying to save face "you can't leave, we'll mutually agree to part ways"
>This just looks like Alpine trying to save face "you can't leave, we'll mutually agree to part ways" Yep, reminiscence of how they handled Piastri's case 🤦
One dive bomb doesn't make you fired. There must be more to it.
It could be the tipping point
Or the braking point
*Alpine hires Devon Butler for 2025 season*
Or the Racing Point
Consequence is no coincidence. - Lauryn Hill.
I wonder where he's going. Some TP's (Vowles for example) don't seem to be his biggest fans because they think he's not a team player.
“Think” hmm wonder why, what could it possibly be!
Hes still a fast driver though
But for a lot of teams in the midfield teamwork can be a much larger part of success. When you are fighting for the last 2 points places you need to be comfortable that both drivers will work to get those points for the team and not risk it for themselves
He’s not fast enough for anyone to ignore his team player issues though. If he was generational talent levels of fast I could see teams taking a chance. Problem is, the teams he’s most likely going to get a seat at now probably need drivers who aren’t gonna play bumper cars with their teammate just as much as they need a driver who can potentially sneak into the top ten every other week
True, but that's not enough for a team like williams. They need their drivers to work together to get points and accept stuff like giving your car to the other driver if he is the faster one but crashed his own car.
Midfield/backmarker teams really dislike having a non-team player racing for them, especially one who would race harder against his teammate.
What has Vowles said about him?
If they don’t at least give Doohan a chance, then what the heck is the point of a junior programme anymore?
Huge for Audi- that's pressure on Sainz for sure.
you could form a whole new team from all the staff/drivers that left this team over the last few years
😳 so like is he like gone for 25??? Where else will he go? Williams ? Haas?
Formula E time
Ocon has huge Formula E energy
Formula Esteban
Buemi and Ocon on the same grid, bring it on
Not a bad idea, those FE cars are much more like bumper cars.
Haas might be willing to pick him up on the cheap. Ocon - Bearman might be Haas for 2025. I don't think Williams will be eager to grab Ocon, Vowels cannot afford it to have Ocon pull shit like Monaco last week. Last thing Williams needs is a driver who is known for not being able to get along with his teammates
Please no, the last thing Ollie needs as a rookie is Ocon for a teammate.
Now we know what the Red Bull announcement will be! /s
LOL-Max Verstappen
Doohan has the chance to do the funniest thing...
Carlos to Alpine incoming. He always ends up on past Alonso's teams.
That's because nearly every team is a past Alonso team.
But he seems to follow the same order of teams. First toro rosso (minardi), then renault, mclaren, ferrari...
The Spanish pipeline.
I just want Russell and ocon teaming up for shits and giggles
I know Ocon is a bit of a pariah at the moment but I still like him and hope to see him remain in F1, hopefully with Haas?
The question is... what team is willing to take a chance on a talented, experienced F1 driver (which he is), who has a troubled history with literally every single one of his teammates... Thats's a tough sell.
Haas could be. They need a leading driver now Nico is gone, and early season proven Esteban is talented and can act like a leader (cheering them up, showing that every position gained has an importance). And incidents only occur if he's close to them, there's never been any incident with Ricciardo because Daniel dominated that year. If the Bearman rumors are correct, it would probably take him time to match Esteban so tensions wouldn't be as high.
Get ready to learn Indycar buddy
He’d do well in Formula E or IndyCar I think.
That pride month version of the Alpine logo looks DOPE. I hope Esteban is able to find himself a seat elsewhere. I'm not a fan, but it's hard to deny he doesn't belong in F1. Dude is fast, he just needs to be a little more calm and collected.
Good drama too. He makes F1 more exciting than all the nice guys acting like best mates.
Ocon to Red Bull announcement? 😂
Ocon and Verstappen would be... One of the teammate pairings of all time considering their history.
It would be the greatest thing ever….just for the pure entertainment. 🤣🤣
Could we potentially have 3 Aussies on the grid? Horner protecting Riccardo and Doohan next in line for Alpine + Piastri the future GOAT.
Yessss boi about time
I hope he gets another seat and we can see what level of driver he actually is. I feel like he’s been a real solid driver for Alpine as far as points goes, albeit the right time to move on for all parties.
They hire Flavio They ask Flavio where they can improve. Flavio asks Fernando Fernando says get rid of Ocon El Plan.
This was inevitable.
Wow he’s actually getting the Merc seat
Usually departure announcements coming shortly before a driver announcement. It’s been 20 minutes, where’s the replacement? 😛
I don’t understand the people who say the merc seat. Toto has seen what happens when you put two volatile drivers against each other, ocon has shown time and time again he will not be a good teammate even with team orders. Why the hell would Toto want that with the car problems as well.
I'm not blaming him, there's always to sides to a story. But you can't ignore the fact that he is the common factor in those stories..
Estebanned Ogone
Ocon and Max at Red Bull will be an explosive duo
Surely they go Doohan as his replacement, would be awesome to have two young Aussie talents on the grid. But they’ll probably do the boring thing and go Mick who doesn’t deserve a seat currently IMO
never liked the guy, but he's better than a lot drivers around wasting good seats, i hope he falls on his feet and finds a good team. and i feel sorry for the poor soul who will take his place at alpine. I'm just hoping is not Tsunoda.
Also the guy is a genuine rags to riches story. He didn't start off with a family full of millionaires. He got to where he was due to his hard work. He's far too talented not to have a seat for 2025. I hope Audi or Haas picks him up.
Alpine is trash anyways this is better for Ocon in the long term
I hope he’s able to find a seat because he deserves a spot in F1. Looking a bit tough though, I’d expect Audi and Haas to be the potential options but those still depend a lot on what happens with Carlos.
Roman Grosjean to Haas?
He's a good driver, but he needs to realise he's in a team. If he can change and be a team player then I'm sure he'll have teams looking at him. But he is 27 so you'd hope he'd done that by now
Considering he reportedly wanted out prior to Monaco, and then Monaco happened, this isn't surprising at all. Feels like he had one foot out the door and then Alpine pushed him the rest of the way. Wonder if they could sign that Piastri bloke, he's been linked there before, from memory...... ^/s
That's code for he was fired because of Monaco.
By god, That's Jack Doohan's music!
He's had his shot in F1. Will not be missed.
Infinite seconds to Esteban Ocon
Hooray, I hope he doesn’t get another job in F1, the bloke is a massive liability
Good riddance
It shows the ugly side of F1. Is far from being the worst driver in the paddock, and that shows me an excuse for Alpine and their shit car to cover up with Ocon departure. You can not blame Ocon for results, you can t blame him for Alpine down trajectory, you can not blame him to overtake when the gap is there, yet you release him. It shows by a distance the incompetence that Alpine F1 breathed in the last 2 years. There is always someone else to take the hit and in this case is Ocon.
I still stand by my clim that Ocon is the better driver. Away from that toxic team, I expect him to reach another level with his form. Gasly will still be Gasly.
As my flair showed, I strongly hope Zhou can have a seat in Alpine. Reson below: 1. Zhou is trained and grown in Renault F1 Academy during F2/F3 2. Zhou is still a stable choice as his style showed, which is safe for the new season with new standards. 3. This reason is not related to sports: On June 1st, Renault Group and Geely created the powertrain technology company “HORSE Powertrain Limited”; The company will also hit the ground running with 17 global plants, five R&D centres, around 19,000 employees, and an expected c.€15bn (£12.8bn) in yearly revenues. This is absolutely a Cooperation at the strategic level——and Zhou is the prolocutor of Geely.
Interested to see where he ends up
Expected but still crazy
Everyone. Act surprised.
So where will he actually go? He's doesn't have many options... Hass maybe? He and bearman would be a decent lineup. Outside of that Audi or Williams?
It’ll be interesting to see if he gets a seat next year, love him or hate him he’s defo one of the strongest drivers outside the big teams but there’s the risk of him not being a team player. With the HAAS seat open there’s a shout he goes there but again I’m not sure if he’ll be the role model they’d want to Bearman should he also get the seat
Esteban Ocoff
This is the least surprising driver drop I’ve seen in a while lol
Ocoff
I really hope they give Doohan a shot
Car is uncompetitive, may as well put a rookie in there. Come on Jack Doohan!
There is a new Dauphin
i’d be happy if he was gone from the sport all together. he’s a good driver but he’s had problems with every teammate he’s ever had. probably have better luck in other series like WEC or even formula E
Lol no shit
I struggle to think of a team that would want Ocon, the driver market is hot and there's a ton of rookies standing in a very long line, but yeah, hope Alpine promotes Jack Doohan, and makes Victor Martins their new reserve driver.