Esteban Ocon Issues Statement After Being Dropped By Alpine Ahead Of Season Finale

Alpine is locked in a pretty tight battle with Haas and RB for P6 in the Constructors' standings thanks to a double podium in Brazil and some nice points in Qatar from driver Pierre Gasly.

However, Gasly's teammate Esteban Ocon — who will join Haas next season — will not appear in the season final in Abu Dhabi after Alpine made the somewhat surprising decision to release Ocon before what would have been his final race with the team. He'll be replaced by rookie Mick Doohan who will also race for the team in 2025.

Now, Ocon has released a statement about the surprise dismissal alongside photos of the special helmet he had planned to wear for what he had thought would be his final race weekend with Alpine.

"I would like to first and foremost thank the mechanics and engineers across all functions at the track, Enstone, and Viry-Châtillon who have raced alongside me these last five seasons. We have shared so much together, and I am proud to call many of you my friends," Ocon wrote on X. 

"I leave Alpine/Renault with great memories and the pride of having been the driver who brought the team’s best results since its return to the sport, climbing the top two steps of the podium in Bahrain, Hungary, and Brazil. It was also an honour to play a part in finishing P4 in the Constructors’ Championship in 2022."

Ocon said that the season has not "been an easy year on track" with the second half of the year being "especially difficult."

I do not regret a single thing knowing I gave it 100% every single session," Ocon wrote. "Like I always have."

F1 driver Esteban Ocon has offered his first comments since his surprise release from Alpine ahead of the Formula 1 season finale in Abu Dhabi.(© Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images)

Ocon Release Is Bizarre, But Good For Most Parties

The timing of the release is really bizarre because the news didn't come out until after the Qatar Grand Prix. That means that as far as anyone seems to be aware, the team didn't use it as a send-off for Ocon, the driver who brought the team their most recent win.

The move was framed as being so that Ocon could participate with Haas in the post-season test in Abu Dhabi, but other drivers — namely Ferrari's Carlos Sainz who will move to Williams next season — didn't need to be dropped for the final race to participate in the test with their 2025 team.

Of course, all contracts are different, but given how testy Ocon's final season with Alpine has been — coming to a head with an ill-advised dive bomb on his teammate at Portier during the Monaco Grand Prix — it's certainly eye-brow-raising.

Still, it's going to be a positive for all parties. Ocon gets out of Alpine early, giving him some track time with his new team.

For Alpine, they get to have Doohan take part in a full race weekend in a car that will be as close to what he'll have next season as possible. That's huge in F1, a sport in which being a rookie is ridiculously tough because of how little time you get in the actual car you'll be racing in.

Now that we've got Ocon's first statement since the news, perhaps more information will come out.