Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon’s Austrian GP battles were examples of “hard and fair racing” between teammates following the former’s contract extension with Alpine and the latter’s departure from the team.
Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly once again battled at the Austrian Grand Prix. While there was plenty of action for fans to discuss, including Max Verstappen and Lando Norris’ collision, the coming together of Ocon and Gasly has sparked discussion.
Fans know that the relationship between the two has never been easy. The Frenchmen grew up karting together and since 2023 been teammates at Alpine. Their rivalry reached its breaking point during the Monaco Grand Prix when they collided on the first lap. Since that collision, Ocon has announced his departure from the team and Gasly has announced a contract extension.
The recent Austrian Grand Prix weekend saw tensions between the two reach new heights. On Lap 35, Gasly used the slipstream and DRS to overtake Fernando Alonso to come side-by-side with his teammate. Anticipating this move, Ocon pushed Gasly wide and kept his position.
The duo tried everything to hold position and elbow each other, which saw Ocon force Gasly off the track. Gasly wondered why his teammate would do this when both were in the top 10 and could have maximised points for their team.
However, Gasly eventually managed to overtake Ocon. To celebrate this move, he sarcastically said, “Ciao” over the radio as he watched him disappear in his mirrors.
“It Was Hard and Fair Racing”
After the race, Ocon was asked to discuss the battles with Gasly on track. He shared that, “It was hard and fair racing.” For Gasly, he “thinks it’s fine. Let us race.”
Gasly also had “some nice battles with Charles, Fernando, and some other guys as well.” For him, “it was pretty intense in the cockpit, but [he] enjoyed this type of racing.”
“That’s now four points-scoring finishes in a row and my 400th career point in Formula 1. In that sense, it’s been a satisfying day, but a race I am sure we will review in detail in order to improve on a few things.“
Ocon called this “a tough race.” While he began well, he believes he was “not quick enough to fight for position and we fell back into traffic after our pit-stops. We had better pace earlier in the weekend, so, of course, we will review everything in detail to improve next time.”
Gasly finished the race in points with P10 while Ocon’s lack of pace left him P12 after their Austrian battles.
Image Credit: Alpine
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