Alpine make Esteban Ocon stance clear after Canadian GP team order row

Alpine’s Esteban Ocon.

Esteban Ocon can count on Alpine just as Alpine can count on the driver, that’s according to Bruno Famin who has drawn a line under the team order row from the Canadian Grand Prix.

Ocon clashed with the team last time out in Montreal when he was ordered to move over for Pierre Gasly to give his team-mate the chance to attack Daniel Ricciardo.

Alpine expect no lingering tension after Canada

Doing so at Turn 8 on the penultimate lap, Gasly did not have the time to make a run at Ricciardo. Nor did he give the position back.

Ocon was fuming and told his race engineer: “I’ve done what I had to do, which is the most important, but you guys didn’t do what you had to do.”

He reiterated that to the media when he insisted he always does what is “best for the team”, “respects the instructions”, and is a “team player”.

Calling himself a “nice guy”, he added: “The nice guy doesn’t always pay off in Formula 1 and that is bothering me a lot.”

The good news after all is that the matter is now “sorted”, that’s according to Alpine team boss Famin.

The 62-year-old not only insists Ocon won’t be pushed to the side as he closes out his final season with the Enstone team, but he’s also confident the team can trust the driver to do the job.

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Famin told Motorsport.com: “It has been sorted, but we had 16 and we now 15 races to go now.

“I think Esteban can count on all the team to help him to get the best result, because Esteban having the best result is helping the team having the best possible result.

“And we count on Esteban to bring everything he can bring to the team.

“I say it like that, but I should not – because Esteban is part of the team. The team is everybody within the team: driver, mechanic, engineer – everybody has to bring his own to make the best possible result for the team. And the driver is part of the team.”

He added: “We will not put aside Esteban at all. He will have exactly the same condition as Pierre. They are on the same level, same status.

“We know they are very close in terms of the performance, and it won’t be good to do something different for anybody. Again, it’s team interest: Alpine interest first.”

As for any concerns that Ocon won’t put Alpine first, he replied: “I don’t worry more than before.”

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