Could Alpine bench Ocon over opening lap F1 Monaco clash?

Alpine has reportedly not ruled out benching Esteban Ocon in response to his first-lap collision with Formula 1 team-mate Pierre Gasly during the Monaco Grand Prix.

The Enstone-based squad encountered a disaster on the race’s opening lap as Ocon dived up Gasly’s inside at Portier and the two drivers touched on the corner’s exit.

Ocon’s car was sent airborne and the resulting thud against the ground left his A524 with terminal damage, while Gasly incurred a front-right puncture from the touch.

However, a collision at the back involving the Haas cars and Sergio Perez spared Alpine’s blushes as a red flag was issued and prevented Gasly from losing positions.

From there, the Frenchman was able to nurse his Medium rubber 77 laps to reach the chequered flag and bag a 10th-place finish in the sole remaining Alpine involved.

But it would prove to be a bittersweet result as the headlines surrounding the side dawned on Alpine Team Principal Bruno Famin’s comments to broadcaster Canal+.

“We have a lot of damage on the car. The left-rear suspension is bent, the gearbox casing is damaged. We’re changing the whole gearbox, it’s a huge amount of work.

“This kind of incident is sad, it’s exactly what we didn’t want to see.

“Esteban’s dive was completely out of place, it was exactly what we didn’t want to see, and there will be the appropriate consequences.”

When asked how serious his reaction would be to the episode between Alpine’s current drivers, Famin’s words were translated as: “We’re going to take drastic action.”

Famin’s comments were interpreted in some quarters that he was giving serious consideration to putting Ocon on the sidelines over his predominant role in the clash.

But he would provide a more measured response with the words that he used in Alpine’s press release, adding that the issue would be handled “behind closed doors”.

“As a team we will review and manage the incident between both cars behind closed doors,” Famin expressed.

“We must avoid situations that have the potential to compromise the team.

“Today’s result was largely defined by yesterday’s qualifying and, as a team, one point is how it has ended up.

“It’s a bittersweet feeling. We probably did not maximise yesterday’s qualifying but from where we ended Friday to where we have ended Sunday is clearly a positive outcome.”

However, Autosport has reported that Famin is incandescent with the collision which threatened Alpine’s points finish and is now reviewing what action to implement.

Ocon accepted that he was responsible and was given a 10-second time penalty, which was converted to a five-place grid drop for the next race due to his retirement.

Famin taking the most drastic measure could mean Ocon doesn’t even get the chance to turn a wheel in Canada, though, as he seeks to control the building hostilities.

Alpine was close to having its two cars collide on the first lap earlier this month in Miami when the pair battled over track position and Gasly pushed Ocon to the wall.

But while comparisons have been drawn between those two episodes, Gasly revealed one critical difference that served to explain the reason behind Famin’s outrage.

Gasly, who has also claimed Ocon must lessen his aggressive racing approach, divulged that there was a pre-race agreement that the lead driver would be protected.

Gasly had beaten his team-mate to a spot in Q3 and thus earned the right to this privilege. However, Ocon’s contentious lunge went against the planned arrangement.

“Honestly, it was set in the strategy that whoever qualifies ahead will get the priority on the strategy and the guy behind will play a bit more of a support role,” he said.

“Obviously absolutely no risk on a track like that and really try to benefit from having the two cars in such a position.

“We know what’s happened and I think what’s most important for me is just to make sure that it doesn’t happen in the future.

“We came close already a couple of times, too many times, we discussed about it and we just need to be clear.”

With overtaking almost nigh-on impossible around the tight and twisting Monaco streets, Alpine harboured ambitions to capitalise on a promising qualifying outcome.

The Anglo-French marque has endured a tumultuous beginning to the campaign with an uncompetitive package that had logged one point heading into last weekend.

But having since eradicated the excess weight that proved detrimental, Alpine emerged as a competitive proposition in Monaco and had both cars in solid contention.

Carlos Sainz’s puncture from contact with Oscar Piastri at Turn 1 had promoted the two cars into ninth and 10th, making Ocon’s opportunistic move more concerning.

Ocon deciding to violate a clear team order is the undoubted factor that has caused Famin’s rage, with the Frenchman putting his personal interests above the team’s.

However, Ocon being made to miss a round appears a long shot. He has been Alpine’s best driver this term and his touted replacement has not raced since November.

Nevertheless, Famin could view it as the ideal chance to test reserve driver Jack Doohan in a race weekend environment to assess his credentials for a full-time drive.

Famin was seen talking to Doohan post-race, but the likeliest conclusion to the ordeal is that Alpine creates racing guidelines or denies the duo from racing altogether.

Force India introduced the latter when Ocon had multiple run-ins with then-team-mate Sergio Perez and that materialised to be the stop-gap solution that did the trick.

Ocon will never be the cleanest driver on the F1 grid, but his track record when it comes to colliding with team-mates has been exaggerated, and it takes two to tango.

Gasly was responsible when Alpine spurned a considerable points haul in Australia last season and he also almost compromised a return in Miami earlier this month.

Ocon’s attempted manoeuvre was ambitious, careless and reckless in equal measure and would deserve relevant repercussions, but it was not a dangerous act at all.

A revised line-up in 2025 might be the ideal solution to Alpine’s escalating problem, but making a change prior to that would create more problems than it would solve.