Esteban Ocon’s ‘likeliest’ next F1 team named after Alpine exit confirmed

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Esteban Ocon is officially leaving Alpine at the end of the 2024 season. Often when a team announces that a driver is moving on, it’s because he has another move line-up, but that isn’t the case this time.

Indeed, it still seems that Ocon is in negotiations with multiple teams without having a firm agreement in place. As it stands, he won’t be racing in F1 next year, so he’ll be eager to sort something out quickly.

Much as he has a worrying tendency to collide with his teammates, having done so six times in his F1 career, the Frenchman remains a desirable commodity. He has 141 races of experience and has scored three podiums, including a memorable victory at the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix.

Ocon may only have learned in the past week that his time at Alpine was up, but he was already preparing for that eventuality. There were reports earlier in the season that he was exploring options elsewhere ahead of the expiry of his contract.

That’s no surprise given the Enstone outfit’s dropoff this year. They finished sixth in the standings last term with 120 points but have only scored two in the first eight rounds of the current campaign.

Ocon’s number-one choice would be to return to Mercedes. He’s been ‘waving the flag’ to the Silver Arrows to indicate that he’s available to replace Lewis Hamilton.

The 27-year-old is still managed by the Silver Arrows and their team boss Toto Wolff, having carried out a reserve role for them in 2019. But a return has already been ruled out.

Haas the favourites to sign Esteban Ocon for 2025

Realistically, if Ocon is to remain in F1 beyond the winter, he’ll have to sign with another midfield team. There are three realistic options in that bracket – Haas, Sauber and Williams.

One of those can be crossed off the list because Williams team boss James Vowles doesn’t see Ocon as a ‘team player’. He’s also reluctant to join Sauber, even though they will become Audi in 2026.

That leaves Haas as his ‘likeliest’ destination, according to Sky Sports F1’s Craig Slater. Oliver Bearman looks like the inevitable replacement for Audi-bound Nico Hulkenberg, but the seat alongside him is up for grabs.

Ocon will be going up against its current occupier, Kevin Magnussen, as well as 10-time race-winner Valtteri Bottas. If he loses out, then it’s feasible that he ends up racing in a different series.

“Haas at the moment is Ocon’s likeliest chance to stay in F1,” Slater said. “He’s one of a number of drivers in contention there. British teenager Oliver Bearman will almost certainly be driving at Haas next year, with Nico Hulkenberg leaving the team for Sauber and Audi.

“That would leave Valtteri Bottas, the current driver Kevin Magnussen or Ocon. If it’s not that, then the World Endurance Championship and Le Mans would be the other option.”

What Red Bull said about ‘wild’ Ocon speculation

Ocon will turn 28 and, by this stage of his career, he probably imagined that he’d be driving for a top team. After all, there was plenty of excitement around him when he came into F1 as a Mercedes junior.

But the German manufacturer ultimately elected to stick with Bottas rather than promoting him to a race seat alongside Hamilton. In the end, they came to view George Russell as the greater prospect.

Ocon has performed well this season, thrashing Pierre Gasly 6-2 in qualifying and 6-1 in the races. But whether it’s because top teams haven’t seen enough or because of his combustible reputation, he isn’t under consideration for the most desirable drives.

Some fans on social media posited the theory that he could join Red Bull after the world champions teased a big announcement just days before Alpine’s statement. But they’ve since joked about the ‘wild speculation’, mimicking a famous tweet from Oscar Piastri in the process.