The biggest news of the past week is the announcement by Alpine F1 that Esteban Ocon will be leaving the team at the end of the season. This news follows the Monaco Grand Prix, where Ocon attempted a move on the inside of his teammate, Pierre Gasly, in the run-up to Portier, which flows into the tunnel section. Portier is a tight corner that requires a great deal of cooperation between drivers if both are to emerge unscathed.

Both Alpine drivers had been instructed not to overtake each other, with the driver ahead having priority. However, Ocon ignored these team orders and attempted a daring move on Gasly, which ended in a collision. Ocon’s car bucked into the air, landing heavily on its rear wheels, forcing him to retire from the race. The post-race fallout was that Esteban Ocon announced he would be leaving the team by mutual consent.

Esteban Ocon, who is polite and civilized out of the cockpit, becomes a different animal once the visor is lowered. Regardless of team orders, Ocon’s move at Portier was utterly reckless, as it is one of the most difficult corners to overtake on the Grand Prix calendar. While it may be possible to pull off such a move in a video game, in the real world, it is an accident waiting to happen, as Ocon found out.

Ocon’s real offence at Monaco was ignoring team orders, which likely led to the management losing trust in him and deciding to terminate their relationship. So, what’s next for Ocon? He is a fast but mercurial driver with plenty of F1 insights that could be of interest to teams… lower down the grid.