Flavio Briatore blocks shock Alpine mid-season F1 2024 driver swap ‘at last minute’ – report

Alpine adviser Flavio Briatore and team principal Bruno Famin have moved to block Esteban Ocon’s proposed move to Williams for the second half of the F1 2024 season, it has been claimed.

Ocon announced last month that he will leave Alpine at the end of the season, with the Frenchman heavily linked with a move to Haas over recent weeks.

Flavio Briatore, Alpine veto Esteban Ocon’s mid-season Williams move?

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

Haas confirmed on Thursday that Kevin Magnussen will leave the team at the end of F1 2024, with Ocon widely regarded as the leading candidate to replace the Danish driver as Oliver Bearman’s F1 2025 team-mate.

However, rumours at the recent British Grand Prix claimed that Ocon was in line to spend the second half of the season at Williams, replacing Logan Sargeant.

A report by German publication Auto Motor und Sport has claimed that Williams, who currently sit ninth in the Constructors’ Championship with four points, were keen to partner Ocon with Alex Albon after the summer break to enhance the team’s point-scoring hopes.

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That would have seen Alpine reserve driver Jack Doohan step up to replace Ocon as Pierre Gasly’s team-mate for the rest of F1 2024.

However, the plan is said to have fallen through “at the last minute” after Briatore and Famin vetoed the switch.

It is claimed that Haas “would not have approved of the plan either” as the US team close in on a deal to sign Ocon permanently for F1 2025.

Contrary to recent rumours, AMuS add that Ocon is yet to sign a contract to join Haas for F1 2025 with team owner Gene Haas reportedly delaying finalising the deal in the hope of forcing the French driver to accept a lower salary.

Briatore and Famin are believed to have been concerned that Ocon’s switch to Williams would have hurt Alpine’s prospects in the Constructors’ Championship, with the Enstone-based team currently nursing a slender four-point lead over Williams in eighth place.

Williams dismissed the speculation over a mid-season move for Ocon as a rumour when contacted by PlanetF1.com.

However, team principal James Vowles revealed Williams’ pursuit of Ocon had reached the stage where the 27-year-old visited the team’s factory to undertake a seat fitting – but, he insisted, it was with a view to a deal for F1 2025 rather than the current campaign.

Vowles conceded that a move for the Frenchman is now highly unlikely, describing it as “a shame” that their “paths won’t cross.”

He told the Italian edition of Motorsport.com : “Esteban came in. Not a real seat fit, but I wanted to evaluate him for 2025 and 2026.

“I needed to do that because I need to actually ascertain whether he fit in the car or not. Because he is – as is Alex – a tall chap, but his dimensions are a bit difficult in certain dimensions.

“Everything we are doing at the moment is – just to clarify that one – for ’25 and beyond on drivers, nothing else.

“He was definitely a consideration. I’ve known him for many years obviously at Mercedes, [he] fell under myself and Toto [Wolff] and Gwen [Lagrue, Mercedes junior head]’s management and looked after him.

“He’s been mighty quick. You don’t outqualify Fernando [Alonso] unless you are mighty. If you create the right environment around him, he can be very strong. So that’s why he was a consideration.

“I think where he is at the moment our paths won’t cross and I think it’s a shame because there’s certain bits that I can see would work.

“But other bits that I just don’t think will work in the time frame we have as well, but what I can say is I’m confident he will have a very successful future in Formula 1.”

Vowles’ latest comments come just a fortnight after he refused to rule out the prospect of replacing Sargeant mid-season, with the American driver scoring just a single point since arriving on the grid at the start of 2023.

He told media including PlanetF1.com at Silverstone: “We’re continually evaluating it.

“What we’ve said to Logan is it’s a meritocracy. You have to make sure you earn your place in the sport continuously. That’s been the same message that has been for 18 months really for him.

“We are open-minded to things.

“What I’ve said before and I’ve maintained today is that our car – and this is a responsibility on my shoulders and the team – isn’t quick enough. It’s not a driver issue we suffer from today. We’ve simply been out-developed and we have to make sure we accelerate that process.”

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