30/11/2022
NEWS STORY
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.