Monaco Mishap Puts Esteban Ocon’s F1 Career in Jeopardy, Say Former Drivers
According to two former grand prix drivers, Esteban Ocon’s performance at the Monaco GP may have put his entire Formula 1 career at risk.
Rumors suggest that Alpine team boss Bruno Famin, furious over Ocon’s breach of team orders and crash with teammate Pierre Gasly on lap 1, might consider benching the 27-year-old Frenchman for the upcoming Canadian GP.
Haas boss Ayao Komatsu revealed during Monaco that he is in discussions with Ocon about a potential team switch for 2025.
However, Martin Brundle, a veteran British race commentator, believes that Monaco could have severely damaged Ocon’s prospects with any team. He pointed out that Ocon has faced criticism from Sergio Perez, Fernando Alonso, and now Gasly for his aggressive behavior within the team.
“It will cost Esteban heavily as no front-running team would entertain that kind of mentality, or even perhaps any team,” said Brundle. “A driver represents hundreds of hardworking and professional people, and hundreds of millions of pounds of investment and sponsorship when driving for an F1 team. You simply can’t keep attacking your one teammate with abandon.”
Another former F1 driver, Giedo van der Garde, echoed these sentiments, suggesting that Ocon’s demeanor effectively eliminates him from contention for the 2025 Mercedes seat, despite being managed by team boss Toto Wolff.
“He’s fast, but he’s a nasty guy,” van der Garde said. “He is not a team player and he can be a nasty guy at times.”
Van der Garde believes that a race suspension for Ocon in Montreal would be detrimental to his F1 future.
“To be honest, he really screwed up,” van der Garde remarked. “Imagine being in a pre-race briefing, everyone’s discussing the strategy, figuring out what is important. But Ocon thinks ‘Yes, there’s a gap’ and he sticks his car in there. It’s so stupid. When you’re in a bad situation, you have to work together.”
However, van der Garde does not anticipate Alpine sidelining Ocon for Canada.
“Personally, I think they’ll let him drive and he’ll get a reprimand,” he concluded.