Alpine rules of engagement ‘as clear as it could be’ after latest flashpoint

Pierre Gasly

Pierre Gasly says Alpine’s rules of engagement are “as clear as it could be” despite yet another team-mate spat at the Austrian Grand Prix.

Not for the first time this season, Gasly and Ocon were in combat during a Grand Prix as they ran 11th and 12th having overtaken the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso.

A ‘ciao’ from Pierre Gasly as he overtook Esteban Ocon

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

Gasly tried to make a pass on his team-mate around the outside of Turn Three, the scene of Max Verstappen and Lando Norris’ lap 64 crash, only to be pushed wide by Ocon.

“What was that?” he asked Alpine on the radio. “Why did he just push me off the track?”

Alonso, behind them on the track giving him the perfect view of his former team’s battle, declared: “Wow!”

A few laps later Gasly again pulled alongside his team-mate and took the outside line around Turn 4, giving him the inside line for the next corner and P11.

“Ciao!” was his simple message as he completed the move.

Gasly went on to finish the Grand Prix in 10th place, scoring a point, while Ocon was P12.

He was asked about Alpine’s team orders given this wasn’t the first time the team-mates had raced wheel-to-wheel this season.

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“I think it was as clear as it could be before the race,” he told the media including PlanetF1.com. “But I can only control what happens in my car, I can’t control this guy. It is what it is.”

Asked if the tussle cost them time, he added: “We’ll review that.

“It’s something we’ll have to discuss between us, but we’ve already discussed it and we’ll see if there’s anything else we can do.”

But while Gasly wasn’t impressed with his team-mate’s antics, Ocon called it “hard and fair racing” before adding he “didn’t receive” any additional instructions during their battle.

Ocon wasn’t able to fight back having lost a sizeable chunk of bodywork off his car as he rode the kerbs in the wake of Gasly’s overtake.

“It’s crazy that everyone tells me that because I just went to speak to the engineers and they didn’t see it.

“If we have a piece of carbon flying, and we don’t see it on the performance load, it’s quite worrying I have to say. I’m going to have a good check around the car with the guys to see what it is.

“The guys didn’t tell me anything so that’s something we need to understand.”

Alpine are up to nine points in the Constructors’ Championship but remain P8.