Haas announced the signing of Esteban Ocon on Thursday. Speaking to the press at Spa, the French driver said one of the factors that prompted him to leave Alpine was the team’s lack of technical progress.
Esteban Ocon: “The decision was clear to me. I accepted it a long time ago because I wanted to take on a new challenge. I wanted to write my own story, and five years in one team is obviously quite a long time in Formula 1.
Together we have achieved good results, but there have also been difficult times. It is no secret that the results of this season have been disappointing. No one in the team is happy with this state of affairs and our positions. In some areas there has been no progress, and certain technical problems are still the same as a few years ago.
“We have not done the best job with the technological development. As a result, the current car has the same problems as three years ago. This is unacceptable in Formula 1.”
Esteban Ocon added that he started looking for an opportunity to leave Alpine halfway through last season: “There were obviously a lot of different conversations in the paddock. The negotiations with Haas started a long time ago. It all started in mid-2023.”
Source: F1 News
I am Christopher Clyde, an experienced journalist and content writer with a passion for sports. I have been writing about Formula 1 news for the past five years and am currently employed as an author at athletistic.com, one of the top sports websites in the US.
