Esteban Ocon faced the wrath of his Alpine team and both potential disciplinary action and a grid penalty in Canada after crashing into teammate Pierre Gasly in Sunday's Monaco Grand Prix.
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The French driver attempted to lunge past Gasly on the opening lap but succeeded only in colliding and elevating his car before crashing back to the ground.
His car was badly damaged and he was unable to continue, but that was only the start of the repercussions for his impetuous driving.
Pierre Gasly reacted to his teammate Esteban Ocon driving into him 👀 pic.twitter.com/5Sw5hzRChu
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) May 26, 2024
Team boss Bruno Famin said the incident would have consequences for Ocon, the race stewards hit him with a 10-second penalty which became a five-place grid drop for the upcoming Canadian race and, despite his subsequent apologies, Gasly was left disappointed and upset.
"I’m just so disappointed with Esteban and for the whole team," he said.
"It shouldn’t have happened. We’ve thousands of people working for us and we cannot afford this behaviour. We had clear instructions before the race – and this wasn’t respected.
"And you should never take that much risk to take both cars out with your teammate. I am sure it will be discussed, but we can’t afford to have a similar situation in the future.”
The chequered flag waves on the Monaco GP 🏁 pic.twitter.com/GcteN4V97L
— BWT Alpine F1 Team (@AlpineF1Team) May 26, 2024
Ocon apologised on Instagram, writing: “Today’s incident was my fault. The gap was too small in the end and I apologise to the team on this one.
"Hoping for a deserved points-finish for the team today.”
Esteban has his say on today 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/9touq91QtO
— BWT Alpine F1 Team (@AlpineF1Team) May 26, 2024
Famin said: “This kind of incident is quite sad. Esteban’s attack on Gasly was exactly what we did not want to see and we will draw the consequences.”