F1 star in BRUTAL public criticism of own team

An F1 star has delivered a brutal assessment of Alpine after revealing there is ‘unhappiness’ within the team.

Alpine have endured a difficult 2024 season, falling to the back of the grid, and have failed to demonstrate positive development.

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Their woes worsened at the Belgian GP, where they announced the departure of their team principal Bruno Famin, only a year after Otmar Szafnauer was axed from the role.

Race winner Esteban Ocon will also leave Alpine after five seasons with the team, where he will join Haas for 2025.

Esteban Ocon unearths ‘unhappiness’ at Alpine

Speaking to the media, including GPFans, at the Belgian Grand Prix, Ocon did not hold back on his assessment of the team.

“The decision for me was quite clear, you know, quite a long time ago, that I wanted a new challenge, I wanted to write my story,” Ocon said. “In Formula 1 terms, we've achieved good things we've achieved, you know, things a little bit more difficult at times.

“But yes, for sure. You know, this season has been frustrating, it’s no secret that no one's happy inside the team, to where we are. And there hasn't been, you know, enough of an improvement on some terms, on some technical issues that we had years ago.”

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In an interview with Sky Sports, Ocon further elaborated on the ‘unhappiness’ within the team, claiming Alpine do not listen to their drivers.

“It’s not a secret that it’s been frustrating lately, not having a good car,” he added.

“We haven’t been listened to, the way we should have been. Myself, Pierre [Gasly], Daniel [Ricciardo], Fernando [Alonso].

“We’ve said things about the car that haven’t been tackled, haven’t been fixed.

“We end up with issues from three or four years ago that we still have today. This isn’t possible in Formula 1.”

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