Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly talked about how a karting incident ruined their childhood friendship. Two French drivers, who were born in Normandy, were childhood friends and competed against each other in lower-tier and regional races. But their friendship took a turn for the worse after a heated dispute on the circuit.
During the most recent season of Netflix’s Drive to Survive series, Gasly talked about the incident and said that he had a great race that day, finishing fourth while Occon was third on the final lap. He passed Esteban in the final corner after they had both lined up side by side in the queue. From there, their friendship only deteriorated. On which Esteban Ocon had a different view, he said
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. Esteban Ocon said, as reported by express.co.uk.
After which Gasly did confirm that he was later disqualified from the race for his takeover. Gasly has tried to restore their friendship multiple times. However, Ocon does not wish to do so. Despite their conflicts, Gasly and Ocon from Alpine have been able to keep their relationship constructive. Each of them enjoyed podium trips, and their performances were one of Alpine’s few bright spots in the 2023 campaign.
The Alpine team is introspecting on three days of pre-season testing.
Alpine is one of the ten Formula 1 teams examining data ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix. Even though the team might have gotten better with the A524, it’s hard to say where they stand in the F1 hierarchy. Despite having a power unit shortage in the previous season, Alpine anticipates a “challenging” start to the 2024 campaign. To increase their knowledge base before the race, the team is working hard.
Through three days of testing, Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly completed 334 laps, suggesting minimal reliability issues. A red flag and a loose wheel brow caused Gasly to miss some testing time, but all in all, the A524 is reliable. Both drivers recorded better lap times than they did a season ago: Ocon beat his personal best on Thursday with a time of 1:33.079, while Gasly set a new mark on the last day of pre-season testing with a time of 1:32.149.
Alpine is anticipating a steady and dependable season following a difficult 2023 campaign. Improving the A524 and avoiding the power shortages from the previous year is the team’s biggest task. Despite a difficult start to the year, this week’s improved lap times and reliability could portend good things to come.
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