During the Monaco Grand Prix, two cars from the French manufacturer, Alpine, almost had to leave the race after Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly crashed into each other. Ocon tried to pass Gasly from the inside at a corner, but they ended up hitting each other. Ocon’s car got damaged badly, and he had to stop racing. Gasly managed to continue and finished 10th, earning a point.
Later, Ocon admitted it was his fault and said sorry to the team. The racing authorities punished him with a 10-second penalty during the race, which will turn into a five-place grid penalty in his next race.
The team principal, Bruno Famin, was very upset about what happened. He said, “Esteban’s dive was completely out of place.” He talked about the damage to the car and how much work it would take to fix it.
Some people think Famin’s comments mean Ocon might not race for the team in the next race as punishment. But Famin’s exact words, in French, don’t directly translate to that. He hasn’t made any more public statements about it.
However, it’s clear from what he said earlier that Famin is really angry. He feels this latest crash is the last straw in a series of problems between Ocon and Gasly. The team has been warning them since earlier races to be careful when racing each other.
In Monaco, Gasly said they were supposed to help each other during the race, but it didn’t happen. This wasn’t the first time they had aggressive racing. They almost collided in the Miami Grand Prix earlier.
Famin talked to both drivers after the Monaco race. Ocon has had problems with teammates before, like Fernando Alonso and Sergio Perez. Alpine is considering what to do next to prevent these issues from happening again. They might give financial penalties, strict team orders, or even change the driver line-up. They could also set up rules like Mercedes did in 2016 when Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg had similar problems.
