They promised on social media that an announcement would be made on Sunday, but after Alpine only confirmed that Esteban Ocon had left the team, Red Bull joked about “wild speculation” in response to a “stay tuned” announcement.
In what has been one of F1’s most chaotic seasons ever, the confirmation of the driver market and 2025 contingency began already in January.
Red Bull: Without our consent…
It started with the simple announcements that Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris would stay with their respective teams on long-term contracts, then moved on to Lewis Hamilton’s surprise move to Ferrari and the associated firing of Carlos Sainz.
Following this, Alex Albon continued at Williams and Nico Hulkenberg moved to Audi.
But many F1 fans are waiting to see what Red Bull will do: Will Max Verstappen move to Mercedes? Will Sergio Pérez stay for another season? And if either of them does move seats, will it be Sainz, Daniel Ricciardo or Yuki Tsunoda?
Red Bull teased the announcement on Sunday night with the message “Stay tuned.”
The F1 world waited, and waited, and waited, and finally it came…
“Esteban Ocon and Alpine have ‘agreed to part ways’ after the end of the 2024 F1 season.”
It was an announcement nobody was expecting, but Red Bull issued a short statement on the thread, which drew some laughs.
“We understand that Alpine F1 made a statement regarding Esteban Ocon without our consent, which has caused a lot of speculation regarding our ‘Stay tuned’ announcement.”
This is a parody of Oscar Piastri’s tweet in 2022, in which he said: “Alpine F1 issued a press release without my consent.”
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No room for Esteban Ocon at Red Bull Inn
It’s safe to say Red Bull’s “stay tuned” message wasn’t about Ocon, as with Perez said to be on the verge of re-signing, it’s highly unlikely the Frenchman will be in the Milton Keynes team’s plans.
Ocon is pondering his future.
“I will announce my plans in the near future, but in the meantime I am fully focused on delivering for this team and ensuring a successful remainder of the season,” he said in an Alpine statement.
Ocon is a Mercedes junior and still reports to Toto Wolff, but with the Brackley team reportedly favouring Kimi Antonelli, Ocon has no options near the front of the grid, with Haas, Audi or Williams being his most likely destinations.
For Alpine, reserve driver Jack Doohan is a likely candidate to replace Ocon and is expected to take part in FP1 later in the season.
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