Pastor Maldonado laughs at Esteban Ocon for being happy to have a new teammate

Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso’s relationship collapsed like a house of cards. From Alonso defending his life against Lewis Hamilton so that the Frenchman could win his first Grand Prix to almost putting each other out of the race.

Things between the Alpine duo were too hostile for the team to manage, with Ocon even disobeying the orders given by the French team, which were supposed to favour Alonso.

Now, before the 2023 season, Alonso is leaving for Aston Martin. On the other hand, Ocon will be joining forces with Pierre Gasly making the unit an all-out French outfit.

Also read: 8-GP winner Daniel Ricciardo says Red Bull didn’t ‘owe him anything’ after 2018 exit

Pastor Maldonado laughs at Esteban Ocon

With both drivers parting ways, Ocon speaks on his separation from the 41-year-old driver. He claims it’s good that the duo are going different ways, and the Spaniard is going to Aston Martin.

 

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The quote was posted by Motorsport on their social media account. In comments, former F1 driver Pastor Maldonado laughs at Ocon for the comment, probably mocking the Frenchman for his words.

The comment by Maldonado was praised by F1 fans in the reply section, as Ocon’s message for Alonso was distasteful, as he also said Alonso contributed only 2% to Alpine’s work. Surely an unfortunate end of a partnership which started on a promising camaraderie.

Fernando Alonso claims to beat Alpine in 2023

After announcing his alliance with Aston Martin, Alonso declared that they’d beat Alpine next year. However, the two teams are on opposite trajectories. Aston Martin, which started with several promises in 2021, has only seen a downward trajectory after its predecessor Racing Point’s peak performances in 2020.

Though they have maintained last year’s position of P7, they have achieved 22 points less this year. Something with which Lawrence Stroll wouldn’t be pleased and wanted after putting truckloads of investment.

The Silverstone-based team aspires to win the championship one day. However, they are far from achieving it at this rate. But Alonso, who sees his F1 career to be only 2-3 years long from now, aims to make Aston Martin a championship contender before he leaves.

The new aerodynamics rule hasn’t been kind to them so far. And by the time the new engine regulations are out, Alonso would probably be gone from the sport.

Also read: Daniel Ricciardo urges to not get the AlphaTauri driver sick during Australian GP 2023

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

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