Esteban Ocon to leave Alpine F1 team at the end of the season

ENSTONE, England: Esteban Ocon is leaving Alpine at the end of the season after a troubled start to the year in Formula 1 for him and the French owned...

ENSTONE, England: Esteban Ocon is leaving Alpine at the end of the season after a troubled start to the year in Formula 1 for him and the French-owned team.

Ocon is the only driver to win a race for Alpine since it rebranded from Renault at the end of 2020 but he has scored one point this season and crashed into teammate Pierre Gasly's car in the last race, the Monaco Grand Prix. Ocon will have a five-place grid penalty at the Canadian Grand Prix this week as a result.

"We have had some great moments together, some tough moments as well, and I am certainly grateful to everyone at the team for these memorable times,” the 27-year-old Ocon said in a team statement.

"I will announce my plans very soon but, in the meantime, my full focus is on delivering on track for this team and having a successful remainder of the season.”

Alpine said its drivers for next year "will be announced in due course.”