OCON SIGNS THREE-YEAR ALPINE DEAL
Esteban Ocon became the latest F1 driver to commit to a long-term arrangement with their existing team by announcing a three-year contract extension with Alpine. He will remain with the Anglo-french team through 2024.
The 24-year old joined the team last year when it was known as Renault. He has longstanding ties with Mercedes, having been on the company’s F1 junior driver programme and acted as its reserve driver until his loan move to Renault. Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is also part of his management group, though he has operated at arm’s length in recent years.
“It feels good,” said Ocon. “It’s a weight off the shoulders, I would say. I can focus on performance and what matters now that the rest is secured. I felt good in the team, I feel very well integrated, the atmosphere is fantastic and 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 be staying.”
The new contract in effect removes Ocon from contention for a 2022 seat at Mercedes, which currently has two vacancies since both Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas are out of contract at the end of this season. While Hamilton is widely expected to stay, and is in negotiations for a new deal, Bottas’s future is rather more up in the air.
However, Alpine F1 CEO Laurent Rossi has confirmed that Ocon’s new contract does not feature a break clause which would enable him to take up a Mercedes seat if one became available.
“He is a Mercedes-managed driver, that’s about it,” said Rossi. “He stays with us.”
“I’m completely an Alpine driver for the next three years,” said Ocon. “That’s where I stand at the moment. For sure, there’s still connections with Mercedes, but the job I’m doing is to be with Alpine, and fully with Alpine, so there will be nothing and no interaction with the Mercedes Grand Prix team.”
Ocon declined to comment on whether he had entered negotiations with Mercedes about his future before committing to the new long-term deal with Alpine.
“What I know is that I feel really good here,” he said. “That’s all I care about in the end and that’s all I need to focus on in the future. I think it is a great decision for me, for my career. A massive step forwards and it’s the longest deal I’ve ever had in motorsport, in my whole career.
“Coming from where I was a couple of years ago [when Ocon was forced into the Mercedes reserve role after losing his seat at Force India/racing Point to Lance Stroll], I think it is an awesome position to be in.
So I’m really pleased.”