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Esteban Ocon looks set to be replaced by Jack Doohan for Formula 1’s season finale in Abu Dhabi.
Ocon is leaving Alpine to join Haas in 2025 after five seasons with Renault’s works team.
His farewell campaign may have come to a premature end, though, with his successor Doohan in line for an earlier-than-expected F1 debut.
The Race understands that Ocon might not have got permission from Alpine to test for Haas in the post-Abu Dhabi sessions had he not agreed to sit out the final grand prix.
Ocon has cut a frustrated figure in recent races, with the notable exception of Alpine’s stunning double podium at the Brazilian Grand Prix, where Ocon finished second ahead of Pierre Gasly.
This weekend in Qatar, after qualifying almost a second slower than Gasly, Ocon kept alluding to something else being responsible for his deficit.
It has continued a theme of Ocon hinting that a car discrepancy of some kind is behind a more difficult end to the season, rather than him struggling.
Alpine has repeatedly denied this. The two cars have been equal in spec in recent events - although Gasly has benefitted from a front wing and nose upgrade this weekend.
After being eliminated at the first corner in Qatar in a clash with Nico Hulkenberg, ironically driving for the team Ocon will join, Ocon’s demeanour was notably different when speaking to the media compared to 24 hours before.
His comments also had the air of a final end-of-year address and a goodbye to Alpine.
"I would like to thank the team for their hard work over this race and their hard work over the whole year," said Ocon.
"When it's not going so well, the engineers and the mechanic have stuck together, and that's the most important thing."
He added: "It's important to look ahead and and see what we can prepare for the future."
His remarks after the Qatar race, his previous comments and the recent performance discrepancies, combined with him leaving anyway and Doohan being his replacement, make a change for Abu Dhabi logical – if surprising.
Alpine is still fighting for a significant position in the constructors' championship. It is now five points clear of Haas in the battle for sixth, after Gasly finished fifth in Qatar.
The change is understood to be something Alpine leadership had already considered prior to this weekend. An Alpine spokesperson said there was “no official comment from the team”.
Ocon vacating his seat for Doohan would give the young Australian a great head start on his rookie F1 season in 2025.
As for Ocon, he will switch to preparing for his first run for Haas - who he will drive with for the first time in the post-Abu Dhabi test.
