Esteban Ocon admits delight at Fernando Alonso's departure from Alpine, the Frenchman insisting that he did 98% of the development work on the car.

Once it was clear he was heading to Aston Martin, Fernando Alonso began making clear that he was far from happy with Alpine, not least the fact that in his eyes he was suffering more reliability issues than his teammate.

Of course, the Spaniard has history. Though undoubtedly one of the finest drivers to grace the sport he is equally known for his political machinations behind the scenes, not least at McLaren where he was the catalyst that brought the Spygate saga to light.

However, now he has left Alpine, teammate Esteban Ocon has wasted no time in bidding "au revoir" to the Spaniard, or should that be "good riddance"?

Following their clashes during the Sprint at Interlagos, both drivers were warned that any repeats would see them replaced. Thankfully, the pair got through the following day's Grand Prix without any incidents.

Asked if he would be seeking to end the season on good terms with his teammate, Ocon said: "No, not really. I don't need. It's one more race then it's over, finally!"

A week later in Abu Dhabi, he opened up to the French media.

"Of course, I was disappointed that his comments were made in the press and not internally," said the Frenchman. "We didn't have any discussions about any of that.

"I will keep the respect I have for him," he added. "It's good that he's going to Aston Martin and that we're going our own way.

"Honestly, the work was 98 percent on my back and 2 percent on his," he continued. "I was overworked. I did all the development on the simulator, the marketing trips."

Of course, like Alonso, Ocon has history in terms of teammates, just ask Sergio Perez, and many are already anticipating fireworks when Pierre Gasly arrives, the two having enjoyed a fractious relationship ever since they first encountered one another in karts.

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by kenji, 05/12/2022 1:50

"I certainly hope that Gasly ups his game and takes it to Ocon. That should be very interesting to observe. Gasly is not a favourite driver of mine so what eventuates will, hopefully, become an open war between the two of them. The main issue is, does either of them have the talent to match their aspirations? Roll on...."

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2. Posted by equator180, 04/12/2022 5:36

"I believe he won one GP as a gift from Alonso, lets see how many more the chest pounding peacock wins."

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3. Posted by kenji, 03/12/2022 1:31

"I would hazard a guess and say that I very much doubt that Ocon will win two F1 WDC's and neither will he win Le Mans by the time he reaches 40years of age. Slagging off Alonso is very poor form IMO."

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4. Posted by Defiant, 02/12/2022 16:19

"I'm sure Ocon has his perspective, for all I know, he could be right. It's just a shame that he rose to the question in the first place. It can do nothing for your own reputation and in all honesty it'll do nothing to Fernando's. He was nick named Teflonso for a reason.

Do your fighting on the track Esteban and don't play the anti social media game."

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5. Posted by kenji, 01/12/2022 23:56

"There was a time when I rather liked Ocon but that has now fully evaporated. What you see is not what you get. Yes, he's great at defensive driving but he goes too far too often. I should think that the gloves will be well and truly off in '23. Should be interesting,,,especially from AM drivers."

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6. Posted by Tardis40, 01/12/2022 22:11

"That's amusing. One such as Ocon criticixzing one such as Alonso."

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7. Posted by Tom2681, 01/12/2022 16:14

"Ocon is just impossible to like."

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8. Posted by @R1Racing71, 30/11/2022 18:23

"Personally I’d take Ocon over Alonso any day of the week. By the way, I understand Matt Bishop is leaving Aston at the end of the year. Anyone want to ponder why?
"

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9. Posted by ffracer, 30/11/2022 15:46

"The last paragraph of this article tabled my sentiments exactly. Ocon is something else... Perez schooled him (some of it was utter craziness) No wonder why Mercedes picked Russell over Ocon... Gasly, something tells me the poison you endured at Red Bull is no where near the same level of toxicity as you will endure at Alpine unless Alpine brass step in. Otmar? Let's not repeat that Racing Point slugfest. Cost cap should ensure we won't. "

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Alonso: Good riddance, says Ocon

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