Alpine’s team orders left Esteban Ocon feeling frustrated.
Esteban Ocon issued a sarcastic “amazing” to his race engineer Josh Peckett after being informed Pierre Gasly would not give him back P9 on the final lap of the Canadian Grand Prix.
The frustration of the Frenchman was revealed through a transcript of his radio conversation with his race engineer.
Esteban Ocon: I’ve done what I had to do…
Overtaken by Daniel Ricciardo late in Sunday’s thriller in Montreal, Esteban Ocon had his team-mate Gasly close up on his rear wing and was told by Alpine to let him through to see if Gasly could chase down Ricciardo.
Despite initially rejecting the team order, Ocon eventually complied and moved over, hoping that Gasly would return the position if he failed to overtake the Red Bull driver for eighth place.
He failed to give P9 back to Ocon.
The Alpine team-mate head-to-head stats
F1 2024: Head-to-head qualifying record between team-mates
F1 2024: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates
Ocon’s frustrations become evident in the following transcript.
The full team order transcript
Engineer: Esteban, we have to let Pierre through, please. Gap behind him two seconds to Hulkenberg.
Ocon: What’s the reason?
Engineer: We need to try and attack Ricciardo.
Ocon: Yeah, forget it!
Engineer: Okay, that is a request. Got three laps to go.
Ocon: Are you giving the place back after or not?
Engineer: That’s what I’m working on.
Ocon: Okay, I let him by. Understood.
On lap 69 of the 70-lap Grand Prix, Ocon made way for Gasly at Turn 8.
Engineer: Esteban, the cars are not swapping places. Push to the end, please.
Ocon: Yeah, amazing. Thank you, amazing. Thank you
Engineer: OK, radio is still on.
Ocon: OK, mate. Yeah, yeah, you’re good. OK. Yeah, OK. No comments. Too nice. Too nice. OK, mate.
Engineer: OK, listen. We still came 10th. We’ve still got a point, OK? It’s a long way to go yet. OK, I know, I know, I know. I know it’s frustrating.
Ocon: I’ve done what I had to do, which is the most important, but you guys didn’t do what you had to do. That’s it.
Engineer: What I’ll say is we came P10 and we started right at the back with very little hope of getting anything out of this. And most of that is down to the fact that you drove very well and kept a cool head through difficult conditions. So you should be very pleased with yourself for that. And thank you for doing that as well.
Ocon: Thank you. Yeah, happy to be working with you guys too, Dave and Josh. Very happy.
Ocon: Thanks for supporting. Thanks for supporting.
Engineer: Sorry mate, long way to go. Another 15 races, yeah.
Ocon, when addressing the media post-race, emphasized how he had tried to maintain a pleasant demeanor, but unfortunately, it backfired on him.
He stated that he believed he had completed his share of the job for today, but he expressed doubt regarding the team’s contribution to the task.
“I have consistently been a team player, diligently adhering to the instructions I have been provided. Today, I once again demonstrated my unwavering commitment to this principle.”
“It greatly troubles me that being a nice guy doesn’t always lead to success in Formula One.”
Ocon’s final year with Alpine has been confirmed after the team announced their separation earlier this month, ending their five-year partnership. There have been speculations linking the Frenchman to Haas.
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