Esteban Ocon set to make his Haas F1 debut in Abu Dhabi
Haas F1 team recently announced that Esteban Ocon would be driving for them at Abu Dhabi in post-season tests after Sunday's Grand Prix. The French driver would now directly sit in an F1 car after the Abu Dhabi GP since he will not be racing for Alpine in the last race of 2024.
The 2024 F1 season has been quite poor for Alpine, having started on the back foot because they were working on a brand new platform on which they based their new cars. After the first few races, the team managed to pick up pace and move up to the midfield battles but still remained out of points. Esteban Ocon struggled with the team and only managed to bag a few points in the entire season.
In June it was official that the 28-year-old would leave the Enstone-based outfit after 2024 to join Haas, ending his five-year journey with the team. Haas was going for a complete new driver lineup with Esteban Ocon and Ferrari junior, Oliver Bearman.
Before the Abu Dhabi GP, Alpine confirmed that their junior driver, Jack Doohan, would replace Ocon for the last race of the season itself. This meant that the driver switch took place even before the 2024 campaign ended.
Since the 28-year-old now had nothing to do after the Qatar GP, he partnered with Haas early as well. The team recently posted on all their official social media platforms that the French driver would take the wheel of a VF-24 around the Abu Dhabi track during post-season tests. The F1 driver will also be accompanied by Toyota Gazoo Racing driver, Ryo Hirakawa, who competes in the World Endurance Championship (WEC).
Esteban Ocon pens the struggles at Alpine and addresses his early exit in a farewell message to the team and fans
Esteban Ocon recently wrote a long farewell message on his official social media accounts. He addressed the struggles the team went through and admitted that he tried to drive at his best level at all times.
He then addressed his early exit from the team and that he was unable to meet all the team members back at the factories in Enstone and Viry. He was disappointed that he was unable to realize and celebrate his last race with Alpine.
"It has not been an easy year on track for the team and the second part of the season has been especially difficult. For various reasons. I do not regret a single thing knowing I gave it 100% every single session. Like I always have," Ocon wrote.
"To the hundreds of hard-working men and women at Enstone and Viry, I apologise that I will not be able come see you in person and have a proper farewell. As you know, the plan was always to race one last time this weekend and personally say goodbye to you all next week. I was looking forward to both of those things. This is not how I wanted things to end," he added.
Esteban Ocon would be replaced by Jack Doohan in the 2024 F1 Abu Dhabi GP, marking it an F1 debut race for the latter. Doohan would become a full-time driver for Alpine alongside Pierre Gasly from 2025.