Pierre Gasly is unhappy with Alpine teammate Esteban Ocon, in the aftermath of their lap 1 incident in Monaco. Gasly sustained damage after Ocon went for a reckless move in the middle sector, creating a needless and avoidable point of controversy. Although the 28-year-old still managed to claim his first point of 2024, the focus in F1 news will undoubtedly be the collision.
Alpine are a team whose off-track shenanigans often make the headlines. Just twelve months ago, then-CEO Laurent Rossi made a series of scathing comments about their performance. Earlier this season, the departure of key technical personnel was a key talking point.
In recent events, the Enstone-based squad has managed to progress. Upgrades and weight-reducing measures on the A524 have generated significant improvements.
Gasly unhappy with Ocon “behaviour”
However, once again, a preventable distraction clouds the team. Speaking to Sky Sports post-race, Gasly made his feelings known:
“I’m just disappointed, you know. I’m just disappointed with Esteban, and it should not happen.
“And for the team, we’ve got 1200 people working for us. And we can’t afford to have this sort of behaviour.
“We had clear instructions before the race, and this hasn’t been respected. You should never take that much risk, take both cars out with your teammate.
“I’m sure it will be discussed, and we can’t afford to have a similar situation in the future.”
Team principal Bruno Famin has already delivered some very stern comments to the press. Even as the race was still ongoing, the 62-year-old made clear there would be “consequences” for this incident.
Ocon is already facing a five-place grid penalty in Canada, which will complicate his chances for points there. To make matters worse, the scrutiny surrounding him and the team will only increase.
Although he remains a highly sought-after driver in the market, collisions like this certainly will not help.
