Ocon gets long-term Alpine contract
Esteban Ocon has become the latest Formula 1 driver to sew up his long-term future after signing a new three-year contract with Alpine.
Ocon has impressed through the early part of the 2021 season, prompting Alpine to open talks over a new deal upon the expiry of his current contract at the end of this year. The team announced last week that Ocon had signed a new three-year agreement, ensuring that he will remain with the squad until the end of the 2024 campaign.
“It’s a weight off my shoulders, I would say, so I can only focus on the performance and what matters, now that the rest is secured,” said Ocon.
“I feel good in the team, I feel very well integrated, I feel the atmosphere is fantastic and that we are working very nicely. Obviously, we have a great chance of doing good things next year with the new regulations, so it’s definitely a perfect place for me to stay.”
Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi explained that he wanted a driver locked for the next regulation cycle. “We’ve seen enough of Esteban, we know he is good,” he said. “I don’t want to be here again, looking for another driver after two years. Recent past showed that it never really turns the right way – you have a good driver, you want to keep them.”
Ocon was formerly a Mercedes young driver, and maintains connections to the German manufacturer, which serves as his management team. But his new Alpine contract does not contain any exit clauses that would allow Mercedes to sign him in the next three years.
“He is a Mercedes-managed driver, that’s about it,” said
Rossi. “There’s no such clause as Mercedes [to take] him out of the team. No, he stays with us for the next three years.”