--- title: "Alpine Is Breaking Up With Esteban Ocon After This F1 Season" description: "The Alpine F1 team is dropping driver Esteban Ocon after the 2024 season, leaving his future up in the air." date: "2024-06-03" modified: "2024-06-03" authors: - name: "Nico DeMattia" job_title: "Contributing Writer" link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/nico-demattia" url: "https://www.thedrive.com/news/alpine-is-breaking-up-with-esteban-ocon-after-this-f1-season" categories: - "F1" - "News" - "Racing" --- # Alpine Is Breaking Up With Esteban Ocon After This F1 Season ![]() *\Getty \* The Alpine [Formula 1]() team has only won one Grand Prix since shedding its Renault name a few years back—the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix—and the driver to deliver it was Esteban Ocon. And yet, despite Ocon being the only one to bring some hardware to the team's trophy case, Alpine is breaking up with Ocon at the end of the season. It's hard not to make the connection between [Alpine's]() sudden decision to ditch Ocon and his [recent crash at the 2024 Monaco Grand Prix](). Just over a week ago, Ocon aggressively tried to overtake his teammate Piere Gasly and the two collided, sending Ocon's car up into the air and damaging his car enough to end his day on the very first lap. According to Sky Sports, Alpine claims that Ocon's crash in Monaco wasn't factored into the decision to part ways. However, Alpine team boss Bruno Famin was so upset about the crash that after the race he said "There would be consequences." *“*We would like to firstly thank Esteban for his commitment to the team for the past five years. During his time, we have celebrated some fantastic moments together, the best of which coming at the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix with a memorable race win," said [Famin in a statement](). ![]() **Getty** “It’s been a significant period of my life to be racing at this team in Formula 1. While I’ve been here for five years as a full-time racing driver, my professional career started at Enstone back when I was a teenager, so it will always be a special place for me," Ocon said. "We have had some great moments together, some tough moments as well, and I am certainly grateful to everyone at the team for these memorable times. "I will announce my plans very soon but, in the meantime, my full focus is on delivering on track for this team and having a successful remainder of the season," he added. There are now two veteran drivers available for the 2025 season, Ocon and Carlos Sainz, who's currently in his final season at Ferrari. Mercedes is going to be short a driver next year, as[ Lewis Hamilton]() departs to take Sainz's spot at Ferrari. Williams will have an open spot, too, and so will Haas F1. Ocon will have choices but Sainz, having more Grand Prix victories under his belt, might be the more in-demand driver. *Got tips? Send 'em to tips@thedrive.com* ## Author Nico is a writer and reviewer from New Jersey who probably thinks he’s a lot funnier than he actually is. His love of cars began when he was just a kid playing Gran Turismo 3, grinding out enough race wins with a Mazda Miata to save up for an in-game RUF 911. That passion for small, lightweight sports cars drove his desire to learn more about the industry, get his hands on as many cars as he could, and bring those experiences to life on the page. He cut his teeth writing about BMWs, Volkswagens, and Audis, mostly, and has owned far too many of each. He’s on his fourth 3 Series sedan, but all of his old, cheap German cars have forced him to learn more about car maintenance than his mechanical capability can handle. Too many late nights have been spent scrambling to get a car running by morning so he could get to work. For some reason, he never seems to learn that old Bimmers probably aren’t the best daily drivers. But he loves more than just old German cars. He’ll gladly drive and discuss anything with four (or even three) wheels. Cars aren’t his only passions, though. Nico is also a big nerd and loves movies, video games, comic books, and cares far too much about the New York Giants. So don’t be surprised if you see football references or dumb, obscure movie quotes in any of his car reviews. ### Author social links [Instagram]() [LinkedIn]()