Alpine Formula 1 boss Bruno Famin has taken a very dim view of Esteban Ocon's role in the intra-team Monaco Grand Prix collision with Pierre Gasly - which has also left Ocon with a grid penalty.
Ocon lunged down the inside of team-mate Gasly on the inside of Portier on the opening lap of the original race start, and Gasly's Alpine ended up squeezed against the outside barrier, resulting in an airborne moment for Ocon and reported damage for both cars.
Rewind to the first lap before the red flag ⏪
— Formula 1 (@F1) May 26, 2024
The Alpine drivers make contact and Ocon takes flight at Portier! Both drivers have made it back to the pit lane #F1 #MonacoGP pic.twitter.com/uDApxbVRnu
On Ocon's side, it was significant enough that he was unable to take the restart after the race had been red-flagged for a different incident - with Ocon saying "the gearbox was the biggest damage" and Famin clarifying a change would be required.
While F1's policy of first-lap lenience presumably contributed to no action being taken over both the Sergio Perez/Kevin Magnussen clash that caused the red flag and the Oscar Piastri/Carlos Sainz coming together a few metres prior, it was not enough for Ocon to be absolved as well.
"It was clear to us that the collision was caused solely by the overly ambitious overtaking attempt, from too far back, by car 31 [Ocon]," they wrote.
Ocon, thus, "was wholly to blame for the incident".
And as he was unable to serve this in the race, having retired, it will now be converted to a significant grid drop - of five places - which Ocon is set to serve in Canada.
Famin's appearance on French channel Canal+'s broadcast during the race made it clear he had a similar view of the incident.
"It's sad, this kind of incident. It's exactly what we didn't want to see," he said, before specifying that it was Ocon's attack that he saw as "totally" inappropriate.
"And there will be the appropriate consequences," he added, before suggesting they would be swift and significant.
Asked about the penalty decision by The Race, Ocon offered a "no comment" in the media pen - and on the clash itself he said he "didn't really review so couldn't answer".
He acknowledged "you have to take care" fighting your team-mate but said mistakes are a natural consequence of "pushing 120%" to get into the points.
Later on social media, Ocon struck a more apologetic tone.
Today’s incident was my fault, the gap was too small in the end and I apologise to the team on this one. Hoping for a deserved points-finish for the team today.
— Esteban Ocon (@OconEsteban) May 26, 2024
"Today’s incident was my fault," he wrote. "The gap was too small in the end and I apologise to the team on this one.
"Hoping for a deserved points-finish for the team today."
