Esteban Ocon's Departure: End of an Alpine Era

French driver Esteban Ocon will leave Alpine at the end of the 2024 season. Ocon, who won his first Grand Prix at the Hungarian Grand Prix in 2021, had a noted collision with teammate Pierre Gasly. Despite some difficult moments, Ocon remains focused on a strong finish to the season.

French driver Esteban Ocon will leave Alpine when his contract expires at the end of the 2024 season, the Formula One team announced on Monday. The 27-year-old has started 141 races and won his first Grand Prix at the Hungarian Grand Prix in 2021.

After last month's Monaco Grand Prix, team principal Bruno Famin said Ocon would face consequences for a costly first-lap collision with French team mate Pierre Gasly. Ocon was given a 10-second penalty, translated into a five-place grid drop for the next race in Canada, after stewards ruled he had caused the collision at Portier that pitched his car high into the air and out of the race.

"It's been a significant period of my life to be racing at this team in Formula One," Ocon said in a statement. "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." Renault-owned Alpine have had a tough season, so far collecting only two points, and are ninth of the 10 teams.

"We would like to firstly thank Esteban for his commitment to the team for the past five years," Famin said. "We still have 16 races to complete in 2024 together with a clear objective: to continue to work tirelessly as a team to push for the best on-track results. We wish Esteban the very best for the next chapter of his driving career when that moment comes."