Esteban Ocon has rubbished rumours concerning him being excluded from driver meetings at Alpine, following the news that he is set to exit the French outfit at the end of the season.
The Alpine drivers have been involved in various on-track incidents this season, notably during the opening laps of the Monaco Grand Prix where both drivers collided and damaged their cars.
Ocon was forced to retire from the race and faced criticism from team principal Bruno Famin in the media, while Gasly went on to score important points for the team.
The pair subsequently had another incident in Montreal where Ocon was forced to move aside for Gasly to have a chance at earning more points, but the team failed to swap them back at the end.
Esteban Ocon addresses Alpine rumours
With the two drivers seemingly unable to work things out and Ocon’s impending exit, there were rumours that Alpine had shut him out of key driver meetings with management. The Frenchman addressed those when asked about it at the British Grand Prix drivers’ press conference.
“I can tell you that this is complete nonsense. I haven’t been excluded from any meetings at the moment. The team would lose out from one more comment about the car if there were only 50% of the comments going on. So that hasn’t been the case,” said Ocon.
“Of course, I’m not going to spend time working on next year’s car. That is very clear but it is also something that I can spend more time on focusing on the 2024 machine and otherwise, there’s nothing else to say.”
Where will Ocon end up on the 2025 F1 grid?
British driver Oliver Bearman became the latest driver to be announced on the grid for next season at American team Haas, following his impressive debut earlier in the year at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
Ocon said in the press conference that he expects to announce his future before the summer break, with it rumoured to be at Haas partnering 19-year-old Bearman.
READ MORE: Alpine driver Esteban Ocon’s life outside F1 from net worth to girlfriend
It would mean the team has an all-new driver lineup for 2025 if it gets rid of Kevin Magnussen, as Nico Hulkenberg is also set to join Sauber before the Audi takeover for the 2026 season.
Audi could also make a late push to secure Ocon’s services should it fail to successfully court Carlos Sainz, who is still in limbo over which seat he wants from a potential three options.
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