Esteban Ocon has revealed he received support from the “right people” in the aftermath of his controversial clash with Pierre Gasly at the Monaco Grand Prix.
The Frenchman dove to the inside of Alpine team-mate Gasly at Portier on the opening lap at the Principality, before the duo tangled to leave him out of the race and the latter heavily damaged.
Ocon bore the wrath of then-team principal Bruno Famin and, days later, it was announced he would be leaving the team at the end of the season – Haas later confirmed as his landing point for next term.
He was even threatened with suspension for the Canadian Grand Prix – a punishment that never saw the light of day – whilst social media abuse prompted a statement from Ocon hitting out at the reaction.
Having confirmed that Williams team principal James Vowles, who was a key part of the Mercedes set-up the former Euro F3 champion rose through the junior ranks with, gave a phone call of support in the aftermath, Ocon told Motorsport.com in an exclusive interview: “Of course, it’s good, you know, to have support from the right people. There’s been a lot of noise, which is never a nice thing.”
Esteban Ocon, Alpine F1 A524
Photo by: Erik Junius
“You know, when there’s noise left to right, it’s always that there is something big that has happened. And it took for sure too much proportion, especially on social media, which is what Damon Hill said…”
“He said, ‘I’m glad I didn’t drive in the social media days’. That’s basically what he said. Back then, yes, you would have had a conversation with the press and then you come back to the next race, but that’s why I made the social media statement that I made – and it was important to raise my voice at the time that I did.”
“There’s not much more to say, you know, on that side. Things that have happened have passed, and yeah, we move on.”
Ocon reiterated that he immediately accepted his responsibility at the Monaco GP, while also putting into perspective the criticism levelled at him for his attempt to overtake.
“I did a mistake on the exit of the corner”, recalls Ocon. “I didn’t leave enough space on the exit. But you know, the move early on was not too bad. It was the exit that was too tight. And yeah, that’s where I misjudged the gap.”
“And yeah, unfortunately, we collided – and I raised my hand to the team, and apologised to the team, but from there, it should have stopped. But yeah, unfortunately, it didn’t. But things have moved on since then. People have calmed down on social media. That’s good.”
