The door may soon be open for Australian young gun Jack Doohan to make his Formula One debut amid a bombshell report Alpine could drop Esteban Ocon for the Canadian Grand Prix.
Ocon ruined Alpine’s entire race when he attempted to overtake teammate Pierre Gasly on the opening lap in Monaco.
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However, Ocon’s move failed as he suffered enough damage to force him out of the race and hampered Gasly’s efforts, although the latter managed to recover and finish 10th to secure a point.
Ocon, who also copped a five-place grid penalty for the Canadian GP, apologised for the incident on social media as Gasly ripped his teammate in a stinging public spray.
Alpine boss Bruno Famin was also highly critical of Ocon and threatened the 27-year-old will face “consequences”.
According to Sky Sports reporter Craig Slater, those consequences could be as severe as being dropped for the Canadian GP on June 10 (AEST).
“Bruno Famin, he was actually on the pit wall with Canal+ who called him up immediately in the aftermath of that first-lap crash and Famin spoke angrily and he talked about taking a tough decision, which everyone has interpreted as benching Esteban Ocon for the next race in Canada,” Slater said.
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“What I can say to you is that that is still a serious consideration for the Alpine boss, Bruno Famin. He will do what is best for the team.
“But if he decides that leaving Esteban Ocon out for a week as a demonstration of how team discipline needs to be, he is prepared to do that, but that decision has yet to be taken.
“There were face-to-face meetings between Ocon and Famin in the aftermath of the Grand Prix yesterday. Ocon apologised, both privately face-to-face and publicly afterwards via social media. So let’s see what happens.”
Should Ocon be dropped, Aussie star Doohan looms as the obvious candidate to step up into his seat.
The 21-year-old joined Alpine as their reserve driver in 2023 and has already driven a number of practice laps for the team.
If Doohan does secure a surprise call-up for the Canadian GP he would be the third Australian on the grid alongside Oscar Piastri and Daniel Ricciardo, who drive for McLaren and Visa CashApp RB respectively.