Does Esteban Ocon Have An Exit Clause In His Contract?

Alpine driver Esteban Ocon is one of those drivers who was part of Mercedes’ developmental program and is still managed by Toto Wolff. Some even felt that he had an outside chance of being signed by Mercedes if they needed to replace their current driver Valtteri Bottas. However, Ocon recently extended his contract with Alpine for three years. There were some speculations following this that Ocon’s new contract had a Mercedes clause that would allow Ocon to leave Alpine if Mercedes came calling. Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi has now explained if there is any truth to this during the press conference for the French GP

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Does Ocon Have A Mercedes Clause In His Contract?

The apparent source of this speculation was a statement by Ocon where he said that he will still have connections with Mercedes

“So, I’m completely a fully Alpine driver for the next three years – that’s where I stand at the moment. For sure, there’s still connections with Mercedes, but the job I’m doing is to be with Alpine, and fully with Alpine”

Rossi, meanwhile, began by praising Ocon

“He reminds me a lot of Alain [Prost]. He is very good at extracting the maximum out of the car, and it shows, constantly improving. He is damn fast too - give him any car he is fast, and he shows it every qualy. So that makes him a very good driver”

He then pointed out that there will be a new set of regulations from next year

“It’s a three-year regulation period that opens up next year. We have a mid-to-long-term view of things at Renault. We want to be here for a long time, so we wanted to secure that first step”

He then explained how Ocon fits into their long-term plans

“So, I think it's good for us, it's good for him. We have a long, long way to make progress, he buys into the project, and adds credibility to our project. For me it was a no brainer. It's part of a long journey and Esteban fits into that mould quite well”

He signed off by revealing if Mercedes will have any say in Ocon’s future while he is still under contract with Alpine

“He is a Mercedes managed driver, that's about it. So, he's constantly under their management, but there's no such clause [for] Mercedes [to] put him out of the team. No, he stays with us for the next three years”
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Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko feels that “Mercedes always had the advantage of being one to half a second ahead on engine power”

However, “that is no longer the case, [Red Bull] have had a competitive car from the start. Now it's all about the details”

He also added that they “don't lower [themselves] to that level. [They] concentrate on absolute racing and want to be in the best possible position” referring to the flexi-wings controversy

He reiterated that “those side noises pass - at least with [him] - without a trace”

AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly feels that as far as his future is concerned, “it’s still quite early. On [his] side, things are in the hands of Red Bull”

“At the end of the day, it will be up to them to make the decision whether [they] continue together, continue with AlphaTauri, with Red Bull, or other options”

He further confirmed that “It’s something that at the moment [they] haven’t really talked yet. [He guesses they] will see in the coming weeks and the coming months what [they] want to do”

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has explained that the budget cap is “a big challenge, especially for the big teams, and [he includes] McLaren and Alpine in that”

He added that “even AlphaTauri is getting to the finish line, because they get a discount on the parts they get from [Red Bull]”

Red Bull “have had to restructure the whole team. It's also a distraction because it affects every department” Horner added

“But the bottom line is that it's a healthy move for this sport. Even if some parts don't make sense yet”

“For example, about what counts towards the cost cap and what doesn't. There is a discussion about whether a gym is part of it”

“Why should [they] be penalized for it if it has always been there and [they] use it to do something good for [their] employees”

Horner further thinks “it will take two years to agree on all the details and make everything go smoothly”

Alpine's Executive Director Marcin Budkowski has revealed that they “did make significant changes to the design” of their rear wings

“That cost [them] resources and money. [They're] not at all happy about that, as [they] would have preferred to invest it elsewhere”

F3 driver Juan Manuel Correa, who suffered a near fatal crash during the 2019 F2 season, has been accepted into Sauber's Driver Development Program
Should existing facilities be included in the team costs under the budget cap?

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