The other F1 2024 driver battle that could get feistier than Verstappen v Norris

Dicey battles at the Austrian Grand Prix

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

While the Lando Norris-Max Verstappen battle livened up the end of the 2024 Austrian Grand Prix, there was a fierce fight between Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly that has now been overshadowed.

Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly were running 12th and 13th in a DRS train on lap 33 running nose-to-tail when their battle first began with Gasly attempting an overtake. He then popped on the radio to inform the team that he’d like a shot at passing Fernando Alonso, who was in front of both Alpines.

Then, on lap 35, after both Alpines swept past Alonso in Turn 1, Gasly attempted to pass Ocon on the outside of Turn 3.

Gasly expected Ocon to leave him some room — but Ocon didn’t. Gasly ran off the track,

“What the f***? What was that?” Gasly demanded over team radio. “Why did he just run me off the track?”

Meanwhile, Alonso hopped on the radio to comment, “Wow!”

When Gasly tried again and made the pass stick six laps later, he had just one word of response: “Ciao!”

Speaking to media including PlanetF1.com after the race, Gasly didn’t mince words.

“It was intense, some will say a bit too much,” he said of Ocon’s move.

“I’m sure on the pit wall they didn’t really like the fact I had to run wide because I wasn’t really given any space. But yeah. It’s never easy, right?

“At the end of the day, [it was] up to me to find another way to get past him, and that’s what I did.”

The Gasly-Ocon tension

When Alpine announced its driver lineup for 2023, eyebrows around the world raised: Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon have quite the history.

The two French drivers grew up in the same karting circles, putting them at odds on the track from an early age. But one incident in particular has rankled through the years.

During a 2008 national karting championship, Gasly overtook Ocon on the final lap of the race. Gasly was disqualified — but the slight itself was enough.

As Gasly explained in Drive to Survive, “I had a fantastic race that day and on the last lap, I am fourth, Esteban is third. Both side-by-side to the line.

“And then I just like passed him, just literally in the last corner. The friendship we had… it just went downward from there.”

Ocon saw things differently, telling Netflix, “It is true, this is what he did. Overtake on the last lap, but I can tell you that he wasn’t racing the way that he should have done.”

As the two drivers progressed through the ranks, they had plenty of additional opportunities to compete against each other — and those unhealed wounds continued to fester, even as the two moved into Formula 1.

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Alpine’s 2024 revival under threat

To say that Alpine struggled in 2023 would be something of an understatement, with the team dropping from fourth to sixth in the World Constructors’ championship.

Its performance in 2024 has been even worse, as Alpine wallows in ninth place in the WCC.

Alpine has been so desperate to recover something — anything — that it has brought Flavio Briatore back into the fold.

Briatore’s name has been tinged with scandal ever since he was required to step back from motorsport after orchestrating the 2008 Crashgate scandal, where Nelson Piquet Jr. was requested to intentionally crash in order to turn the tides of the race toward his teammate Fernando Alonso.

While Briatore has had every right to work in Formula 1 after his lifetime ban was overturned in court, many teams have understandably hesitated to bring him in as an official member of their operation. But Alpine perhaps felt it had no other options than to re-sign the man who had orchestrated its previous successes in the form of Benetton and Renault.

Now, Briatore has returned as an advisor to Alpine — and it does appear as if his presence has helped flip a switch.

Briatore’s presence has come alongside a slew of changes amongst team personnel and as Alpine attempts to rectify ongoing problems with its overweight car. It took until Miami for the team to score a point, with its second coming in Monaco.

Since then, Ocon’s 12th place in Austria is the team’s worst finish in a race as improvements eke in.

But Alpine’s drivers have continued to put that potential success in jeopardy.

At the Canadian Grand Prix, Ocon refused to yield his position to Gasly, which meant Gasly lost out on the opportunity to attack Daniel Ricciardo’s RB machine.

At the Monaco Grand Prix, the two drivers made contact on the opening lap of the race; Ocon attempted to overtake Gasly at Portier only for the two to collide, with Ocon’s car launching into the air and suffering race-ending damage.

And back in 2023, Gasly and Ocon collided in Australia, and both were forced to retire.

Time and again, when Alpine’s drivers are next to each other on the track, it ends in drama, costing the team the critical points it needs to keep moving forward.

Alpine has made its decision about its future. Ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix, the Enstone outfit announced that Esteban Ocon will depart at the end of 2024 — perhaps a generous option after rumors had suggested Ocon would be leaving mid-season.

Meanwhile, Pierre Gasly has signed a multi-year contract with Alpine, demonstrating where the team will be placing its efforts going forward.

Should Alpine continue to evolve in 2024, it has a chance to score the critical championship points that it can invest in its future. But for now, its drivers may be the biggest threat to its own success.