Towards the start of the 2024 season, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly was struggling to match his teammate Esteban Ocon. He was being outperformed by Ocon in qualifying, and also during races. But Gasly is now aware of why Ocon was getting the better of him.
Up until Miami, Gasly was finding it difficult to get the best out of his A524. This is because a software issue was limiting his performance, whereas Ocon never faced the same problems.
Gasly said (as quoted by Race Fans), “We have found that a few things were not right in my differential… It was a kind of coding problem that unfortunately could not be found.”
More chaos on the first lap of the Monaco Grand Prix
A close call for Gasly when his team-mate Ocon collided into the right front #F1 #MonacoGP pic.twitter.com/tlR51nCI6a
— Formula 1 (@F1) May 27, 2024
However, once the issues were resolved, Gasly immediately started bringing in better results than Ocon. Since Miami, Gasly has finished in the points four times, compared to Ocon’s two, and has also gotten the better of the former Force India driver in Qualifying. “The car felt much better and simply played a big role in consistency.”, Gasly said.
The intra-team battle between Ocon and Gasly, however, has taken a toll on the dynamics within the outfit. Reportedly, Ocon had a falling out with him just weeks before the former’s departure from Alpine became official.
Esteban Ocon’s final days at Alpine
Ocon joined Alpine when the Enstone-based team was still Renault, in 2019. He became the face of the stable, being French and representing a team from his home country. However, that changed when Gasly – also a Frenchman – arrived in 2023.
Full Gas into the future
We’re delighted to announce Pierre will be staying with us as he puts pen to paper on a new multi-year deal
— BWT Alpine F1 Team (@AlpineF1Team) June 27, 2024
Gasly and Ocon have a turbulent past, and have openly admitted that they don’t care for one another. Still, they set aside their differences for the team’s benefit, until they couldn’t anymore.
Ocon will now leave Alpine at the end of the 2024 season, with Haas being one of the favorites to land his signature. Gasly, meanwhile, signed a contract extension with the team, which will keep him tied to the Enstone outfit for multiple years.
