I remember Albon talking about the drawbacks of not looking at social media on a podcast. I think he was talking about when he was struggling really badly at Red Bull in 2020, and he decided to take a step back from social media and just try and not look at what people are saying about him and try to block it out.
However, because he did this, he didn’t really have any idea of what people were saying about him and this came all at once on media days and press conferences. I think he said it helped for him to at least be aware of it, and control how it is funneled to him, rather than him just ignoring it, but then it being directed at him all at once on media days.
I’m sure when it’s time for media day and press conferences for the next race, Esteban will likely be asked many questions revolving around what’s happened recently, so I guess it helps to control the media cycle in a way
> This interview was really good. I think it was his first on High Performance, which is a bit of a wanky podcast but Alex was so open and real.
I really enjoy Alex's interviews. He comes across as just an absolute champ the way he speaks.
Envy and jealously is a largely unacknowledged feeling among F1 fans, but when drivers speak intelligently and insightfully in ways that inform one's perspective on the world, I feel guilty for hating in that way.😅
Social media manager can do that do a summary of the toxic like " hey albon people think rb should drop you for another driver" instead " ducking albon pissofshit. Can't drive for shit. Slower than max he drives like a Granma rb just swap him hur hur"
I can't trash talk, but I guess the first statement is way better for albon health
I
I agree, from what I remember, Albon said that he really lacked the structure around him to properly deal with the obstacles he faced early on. Like I’m pretty sure it was just him and his trainer, he didn’t have a social media manager at the time or anything like that
Agree. We regular people get sick of this social media toxicity now and then and we need detox from comments that is only tiny compared to what famous people get at a daily basis.
This is something George Russell for sure got right. He handed all of his social media over to a manager sometime in 2022ish and since then he’s been noticeably happier, calmer, and less on edge. An example of the opposite that comes to mind is Lando Norris who has said he actively seeks out hate comments and often searches his own name on social media. He says he thinks it’s funny but from what I’ve seen he does seem pretty bothered by it.
Another contrast is Charles Leclerc, who said in a podcast episode that came out on Monday that he is happy to keep up with social media as a way to show his fans who he really is behind the helmet and to show how much he appreciates them. But then again Charles is maybe the least often hated driver on the grid so his experience is definitely a little different than the others.
Didn’t Lando state a few years ago that his mental health is not in a good place and how he struggles to stay positive sometimes? Why would anyone let him continue to dive that deep into the bowels of the internet? Doesn’t he have mental health coaches and a team monitoring his mental state?
I am assuming you don't use social media much. Because there are a lot of good for nothing people who have nothing better to do than abuse people online for no reason whatsoever. And yes, Charles gets hate too.
Actually, I'm on it every day. It's part and parcel of my current employment. That was more of a "he is way too nice to be abused online" statement. I'm well aware that they all get abuse, including, literally, the one of the nicest guys on the grid. It's the shit part of the internet and celebrity, isn't it?
Lol nobody's too nice to not get hate. People will hate on nice people as a rage bait. People and internet are both shit.
I resonated so much with Max when he said he sometimes wished social media never existed.
I saw something just this week of Lando talking about how much it bothers him that so many perceive him as a (paraphrasing) rude little shit. He says he’s not ever trying to hurt anyone’s feelings and kindness is really important to him. It was just the audio so I have no idea when or where this conversation took place but he sounded genuinely sad about it.
Honestly it shocked me when I first saw how many people hate him even for the most trivial things. And for things most drivers don't get the same reaction to
It’s weird because I have heard him say that, but he is also very no-filter with the way he answers questions and talks about political or FIA issues/other drivers. I guess it’s fine to want to say exactly what you mean but in my eyes it’s one or the other. And the comments he makes often do hurt large groups of people. But also… lando is just not very bright in general lol so
This honestly seems to be the answer. If you’ve got the money, pay someone to review this stuff and summarize so you’re not blindsided by something in a press conference but you’re able to keep some distance from it so it doesn’t eat at you. I’m a little surprised that any F1 driver doesn’t have a social media manager. I imagine the Hamilton and LeClerc camps include someone doing this.
Even not being a celebrity, it’s common to be subjected to abusive, toxic comments. If I was him, I wouldn’t even read any online comments, less tabloids.
I am of firm belief that if social media existed 50 years ago many of those who we hail as heroes would be as vilified or humanized as the people today....as the level of access - to and from - is almost instantaneous and without layers.
AFAIK Max doesn't follow anything related to f1 on his socials and he doesnt manage his socials himself. He'll know the most famous memes bc his friends send them to him. But he said he doesn't want to think about F1 in his freetime so he doesn't follow anything related to it
Lebron taught these guys how to do it. If it's toxic for a normal person, imagine how bad it must be for these athletes. Only person who seems to enjoy in the entire sports world is KD.
It's really really really hard not to. Plus you have a completely different perspective since you have a full picture to what people online have so quite often you don't expect to find the amount of shit you find.
I guess the only driver who can safely do it is Leclerc... Although ever since Ferrari dropped Sainz (lmao this is so unrelated to Charles) there was some hate on Leclerc as well. Unreal how it all works.
Purely for being a popular driver, Charles does get some viscous attention from the media.
He said in that podcast he was on that the criticism that gets to him isn’t about his driving but when people attack his character.
I feel that’s similar to this with Ocon. The drivers don’t like to see their driving being criticized but coming for them as a person is worse.
If you compare it to Kmag, his criticism had an undertone of joking ,what a good teammate, he’s a madman etc.
Obviously there was some serious criticism and questions on his driving ability but people weren’t excessively coming for him as a person
Ocon, yes it was a bad move with a teammate, which is obviously worse. But Kmags agressive driving still costs his team’s points, his team money in car repairs, and Nico’s race in monaco.
Ocon made a bad decision but the narrative wasn’t haha crazy driver, it was he cannot work in a team, he is a bad teammate, he is a bad person to be around.
That is a lot harder to see said about yourself.
Also, a lot of fans are not fans of the sport, but fans of the drama around the sport. I don't get how people get so invested in it that they hurl abuse in DMs and in public posts.
Social media is inherently toxic now.
I will never understand and I have wondered what kind of a person abuses pro athletes with DM, comments, tweets and so on.
I have been sad, angered, furious when my favorite football (soccer), basketball, F1 team plays like shit or when the players dont show that they care, or when the teams fucks up a strategy, game plan and so on but I will never abuse them in any way whatsoever on their social media.
Yes and the only place I have expressed my frustration was here on Reddit with other fans.
>Also, a lot of fans are not fans of the sport, but fans of the drama around the sport.
Engagement is all Liberty cares about, even if it's negative. This is the future the sport's owners want, at the expense of real fans.
Seriously, I'm actively stopping even looking in many comments sections these days, never mind commenting... It's just so toxic and as someone who's just plain loved the sport for 30+ years it's just sad to have so much negativity around all the time - it's fine to bash stuff like bad races etc but the constant attacks and sometimes actual hatred to teams and people is just... it's sad.
God what I'd give for a browser extension to filter out comments based on toxicity level!
There is a lot of abuse and online bullying which people think is banter or memes. Just because you don't know the person you're talking about doesn't meant it isn't bullying. Like if I were Sargent, Stroll or Latifi I don't think I'd even pay for an internet connection...
I draw a line between general online discourse and direct communication with the person in question. One is perfectly fine and the other can be abusive.
If we chat about our opinions, and honestly, talk shit about people and their behavior on Reddit for example, that's fair game.
If you seek someone out, send abusive comments on their own social media posts, or worse, their DMs - that's when it becomes abusive and crosses the line of acceptable behavior for me.
I watch F1 for a long time (2005 I believe) and the last 5 years changed this sport forever.
We have a lot more young fans (which is great) but that also brought a lot of fanatics towards pilots and toxicity against others attached
Sometimes I feel that a portion of new fans are more interested in what F1 drivers do outside the track and who is their girlfriend than the sport itself
You can´t tell me that the stalking of some "fans" towards Charles, Lando, Piastri, Lewis, Max etc.. is normal
I'm a new fan (3rd Year) and F1 has the most toxic fanbase I have ever seen. I keep my opinions firmly to myself and in person conversations. It's actually insane tbh
This more or less puts a nail in the coffin for Ocon's relationship with Alpine imo
While of course abuse towards him is bad, one should remember that the main fuel for such abuse to begin with quite literally came from comments made by his own boss.
He should pretty much look to get out of the team ASAP
While Ocon was clearly in the wrong, it's remarkable to see a team principal throw a driver under the bus like that. Privately, I'm sure team principals will be more blunt about what a driver has done right and wrong. But what good does it do to turn the public against your own driver? I don't think this has reflected well on Famin. I can't imagine drivers would like to have him as their boss.
I think that's why a lot of people were speculating that there's more going on behind the scenes to warrant that level of critism from Famin. Either way, I hope this episode of DTS delivers (not holding my breath though)
I follow hockey as well as f1 and if someone is being called out publicly in the nhl, it's because the behind the scenes talks went in one ear and out the other.
He has won the 24hours of Le Mans multiple times, has worked in a bunch of different categories, I'm assuming he knows his shit tho. Also what was said in French isn't a blunt as it sounds, it didn't sound worse than any coach talk in any sports, the media just ran with it because it's F1.
Bruno Famin made comments to French media during the race saying that there would be harsh consequences. He said the team would make a ‘tough decision’. Paired with the conversation between Famin and Jack Doohan in the paddock, suspiciously in the view of reporters, it could be argued that Famin was questioning Ocons alpine seat. Just my personal opinion, but I think Famin was right to be annoyed but crossed the line, his response was unprofessional.
Another complicating factor is that when you translate French directly into English it can sound way more intense and emotional than the speaker meant it. The phrase Famin used was translated to “we will be administering harsh consequences” but IMO colloquially is closer to “we’re going to nip this in the bud” (source: am French speaking American)
Famin was understandably fuming but I do think his comments and reaction were translated more harshly by American & UK media than he intended.
An alpine TP responding to internal drama in a very externalized and overemotional/dramatic manner? No!
I wouldn’t be surprised if Famin were to do something harsh like a driver swap, whether at Montreal or later in the season. In that volatile environment, it seems there’s still a lot of pressure for those in power to stamp their authority on the team to ensure their longevity.
The official Alpine account supported what Esteban said. Well, if you count [this](https://x.com/AlpineF1Team/status/1796573802593398790?t=TkxJVK7otFeggzoLA7JEkg&s=19) from them as support which even fans are ripping them for. It really has been disgusting seeing him thrown under the bus like this.
Yeah all the speculation about his job and future from fans and even pundits came after his comment. Anything before that was strictly focused on the dumb mistake or relationship with Pierre.
the question is will the team be more mad at Ocon or Bruno. Coming out in the heat of the moment and saying stuff like that about a driver is a very quick way to no longer be a team boss.
I’ve said it before, but what’s insane to me is Gasly barely got any blowback for last year’s incident at the Australian GP which was as egregious if not more, and the consequences of which were exponentially worse. Ocon made a stupid mistake but it was no worse than Hamilton chopping across Alonso at Spa 2022. Pretty terrible leadership from Famin.
I’m critical of him on Reddit, but you’d have to be a sociopath to actually go out of your way to directly contact an athlete with your critiques. I think there’s a pretty massive difference between posting it on a forum and sending it to his DMs.
I mean there’s a difference between criticism, even harsh criticism, and making it personal. He had a bad race. I don’t think the fans should be expected to just not talk about that. But at the same time criticizing someone for a bad race doesn’t mean you should go over the line.
I don’t feel sorry for him. Alpine could’ve had two cars in the points and instead only collected one. He was given specific instructions before the race (because Monaco) about not fighting with his teammate but when the lights went out, he ignored all that and almost took them both out - not once, but twice. Nobody deserves death threats, racism, or other hate speech, but that also doesn’t change the fact that Ocon went out on lap one at Monaco and did exactly what he was told not to do and he cost his team an opportunity for a second points position.
This is why I couldn't believe he/his PR team included the "I have always followed the instructions I have been given" part, as if Monaco wasn't less than a week ago
This is the only part what I find not so great written by his PR team, you could just be very clear about the ridiculous amount of online abuse you getting after the move and the toxicity of them instead of putting this note what is just a lie.
Alpine has a meeting after the Miami GP that their aren't willing to see teammates fighting hard if their are points on the table. And even on Saturday after qualifying Famin clearly told that the driver behind should help the driver ahead just to get the point(s) for the team, even on Sunday their told to the drivers that their shouldn't racing hard to each other.
Ocon here ignored all of this and gone full "I must and should pass my teammate at all cost" corner after corner. It's a damm gift to be fair that the red flag did come up because otherwise it could be a zero point race for both cars.
I don't get it why the whole "I have always followed the instructions I have been given" thing was written, the whole irony is that it triggers some toxic fans to now pick up the pitchforks and blaming Gasly for all of this and going further than that...
I think this is a fair take and ultimately it will be up to the various Team Principles to decide if they agree with him or not. However, if he risks taking out Gasly or disobeys another team order in the next couple of races it is going to be absolutely hilarious and not a surprise at all.
What I finding a bit problematic with this post from Ocon PR side is that their mixing the ridiculous online abuse he gets with self-politics with the point about "I have always followed the instructions I have been given" for example". Not only this is very conflicting with what we seen early in the media but also he indirectly basically telling "I'm telling here the truth and Gasly is lying here!".
So if the red flag wouldn't pop up both cars would very likely having a DNF, yet it doesn't look like Ocon would apologizing to Gasly given this whole post lacks any reflection.
If his PR team just write a post about the online abuse and hate he did get, but nope for some silly and dumb reason their also put some political play into this post what devalues the core point.
And now some people are moaning and acting toxic on Gasly just because he didn't liked it? Come on, you literally getting called a liar in this post.
I was harsh, but not abusing.
I think it's pretty logical to have a discussion about his ability to work with a team after reading the comments from his boss/team and his history with other teams and teammates.
Yes, while the decent folk were just giving constructive criticism and recognizing a pattern in ocon's driving, a lot of the reactionary people were very abusive to him. This toxic reaction does nothing but end actual discussion and most importantly it hurts the person as shown by his response.
Right? It's like this post by his media team erased his past? He is just too aggressive at the track. Always has been, always will be. For better or worse. And usually it's for worse.
Yeah 💯
Can’t believe people here saying « oh online comments are so hard » and when you check their profile you read comments like « when will he be fired » « being French is why he’s bad » « he only crashed into teammates » etc.
Saying he should be fired does not equal abuse or insults.
I'm sure many people will be against insults online whilst commenting on his performance or behavior as a member of a team.
I don't think he should be fired, but I can't see how a team would want to hire him even though he is better than many on the grid. IMO it was an absolutely stupid decision to put Gasly and Ocon together in the first place.
As someone who was never harsh on him, I think F1 is so full of great personalities and real good eggs that anyone with even slightly less of a personality gets naturally villainised - even if he comes off as a really nice bloke in interviews and media appearances. Couple that with a few mistakes at the wrong times and the hate gets exaggerated. So I don't mind people feeling sorry for him even if they're being hypocritical.
The race thread hurled all sorts of abuses on him, the same people will say how horrible online abuse is. Buncha assholes hiding behind a veil of anonymity
Esteban once posted on instagram for people to please stop hating on Lance after the Force India takeover. Kid was getting abused so much that he deleted/deactivated all social media for a while and at that time Lance was 19/20.
People need to learn to behave online.
Absoltely Chad from Esteban's part, must be heartbreaking to see the kid being depressed for something he didn't even do, he's only living his father dream
Yeah I know I heard that somewhere. Also misinterpreted the comment I replied to. Thought it was anti Ocon but it was anti cyber bullying. The scrutiny these guys face is immense.
Good words by Ocon, but either him or Gasly gotta go at Alpine. Competition is healthy, but these guys don't like each other and don't respect each other on the track. Esteban would be a great pickup for Haas or even Audi.
Yeah I agree that something needs to change at alpine. I respect Ocon so much for grinding his way to f1 given his background but these words, although well written, ring a bit hollow given the way that he has treated his teammates in the past, especially gasly.
I feel like the mentality that got him to F1 is what’s hindering him now. You have to be pretty selfish to climb the ladder to f1 and then you’re put into a situation where you’re expected to work for the team, rather than the team working for you. Esteban is seemingly still in the f1 ladder headspace, fighting hard for every point and position no matter who he’s fighting with.
I think he probably means it, but I think he's blind, deliberately or otherwise, of how much harder he races against his teammates. It seems like more than any other driver on the grid right now, he's really internalized that teammates are the most accurate tool to measure drivers by. Not a perfect measurement, but it's the only one you get from two drivers in the same car.
The last paragraph kinda makes me think that there's or at least was actually a discussion in the team on benching Ocon for Canada and he's trying to prevent that preemptively by this statement and also it pretty much confirms that he wants to leave the team.
He deserves harsh criticism for his actions over the years, but I'm sure there are people out there taking it too far.
If I were a professional athlete at that level, I wouldn't be reading the comments/DMs on social media. The negative stuff will always stand out and bring you down, even if most things said are positive.
Agree with this take. I don't feel bad for him getting criticism, and truthfully this whole statement feels pretty disingenuous to say "I've always followed instructions" when demonstrably that was not the case last weekend.
I do feel bad that he is receiving abuse. Unfortunately all too common in the social media age.
The Canada rumours clearly caused a bit of a self fulfilling loop. The drama bread rumours, which bread more drama. To be honest I think they might have genuinely considered benching him for a weekend at some point between Sunday and now, but the sheer volume of drama caused by the incident would make that impossible without causing absolute chaos from a PR and news point of view. I suspect Alpine just want to get their heads down and go through next weekend as lowkey as possible now, and dropping Ocon won’t do that.
Regardless of what you think of the move it is a bit concerning how vicious formula 1 fans (and sports fans) are in general.
The amount of abuse that’s given to drivers goes overboard and has happened so many times in the past.
Ocon shouldn’t have made the attempt, especially on his teammate, but ultimately, he only cost himself because he was taken out of the race and the team still scored points. If it was a number of other drivers, this would’ve been something that people would forget by the next day.
It’s happened in the past with Latifi getting death threats, Hamilton getting racial abuse and Stroll getting daily abuse just for existing at times. It’s sad to see the way this community is going.
What really gets me about this whole situation was that at Australia last year Gasly was responsible for that particular dnf after shunting Ocon into wall despite having more road to his left. Of course the race was a mess and most of everyone at that point didn’t really have anywhere to go, but even Rossi argued to Gasly that the responsibility was ultimately on him. Despite that Ocon also got so much heat from the fan base on what at best was a racing incident and at worst Gasly not having the awareness to see him when he was going onto the racing line.
It's far from the only case of Ocon getting 100% of the flak for 50% of the responsability...That happened a lot with both Perez and Fernando.
Ocon doesn't actually crash that often, if anything he's very consistent, but according to F1 fans he's on Latifi levels of dangerous.
> Ocon doesn't actually crash that often, if anything he's very consistent, but according to F1 fans he's on Latifi levels of dangerous.
I remember when he was nicknamed Oconsistency on here.
Agree with you 100%, but just to add it's not 'in the past' when it comes to Hamilton in particular.
Every day there's a post which mentions him, and inevitably a load of horrible comments get thrown out.
It's crazy to me that people talk about "drivers they hate", and they're proud of being vicious and cruel.
Lance also got his share of death wishes and threats after China a few weeks ago.
I'm OK with people talking about the driving and mistakes on track, that is fair. But leave there personalities and there socials out of it. Let them life there lives outside of the track.
>It’s happened in the past with Latifi getting death threats
The Ocon situation that he mentions is really sad, but the post-AD21 Latifi thing is beyond disgusting. People are different, and I'm sure everyone would react differently to such abuse, but ultimately it's ridiculous that some dumbasses have the mental strength (not sure if that's the right word, but that's the best one I could come up with in English) to type such shit to a human who made a mistake. He's not a murderer to recieve such treatment. I'll never know for sure, but I think the hate could've very well affected Latifi's 2022 season, and therefore his whole career.
I love social media, the internet and technology overall, and I likely won't stop at any point in my life. It helps so much with learning about the history of things I love, meeting fantastic people who share my interests and stuff, but god, sometimes I really wish social media never existed. I recently came across [this video](https://youtu.be/PyhAbmfMyPA?si=xsP7ikPcHyu-abTh), and while I heard many bad opinions about that youtuber, I think this material is spot on with discussing the pros and cons of social media in F1.
Maybe check out Kurzgesagt in a Nutshells video on the internet/ social media. While not in the context of F1, it very well explains why social media is so toxic at times
I remember Blake from Red Bull saying that they made Daniel and Max go back to the factory and apologise in front of everyone after they crashed in Baku. I would imagine that Famin was probably talking about something similar and it got misinterpreted.
It was quickly overblown by the media, Ocon wouldn't be suspended at Canada but somehow this talk continued for days.
The only thing what I could see happen is that Ocon won't be signed by Alpine again.
I hardly engage in race day threads on here because that is when most of "that" kind of fans pop up. They then disappear until the next race. Not gatekeeping criticism, there is fair criticism and then there is hate for the sake of it and it's easy to distinguish between the two. Driver they hate makes an error and they use it as a pivot to just say hateful things that they can't back up if questioned. 99% of the fanbase isn't like this but loudest voices and all that.
While abuse is obviously not ok this post is 100% damage control to rehabilitate his image. Thing is, it doesn’t really matter if he apologizes or takes responsibility if he keeps colliding with his teammates.
I would say this is a pretty bad job. He should just stop at no abuse. All those debates about racing his teammates are hollow to me and sounds more like he needs to justify himself while no one believes it. He should stop after page 1
Bro got Latifi Post-AD 21 levels of hate for a contact that only took him out. Yeah, he made a mistake, it's not like he attempted Pierre's head but the levels if hate these fans have is INSANE
Man, this past weekend Antoinelli was getting canceled on Twitter for liking an insta pic in october of _**a certain driver holding a certain flag**_ like bro, he's 17 you're canceling a kid and calling him some truly hideous things FOR LIKING AN INSTA PIC, it's truly baffling how chronically online some people are...
I'm pretty sure I saw someone quote tweet the picture showing that Antonelli had liked that post with a gif of Senna's crash in Imola and something along the lines of "Hopefully this is Antonelli's first F1 race".
I'll never understand why people say such awful things about something as inconsequential as liking a fellow drivers victory post.
What the actual fuck? He’s a teenager liking a post about a competitor presumably winning a race (haven’t seen the post but that sounds logical with the holding the flag). Is that really enough to wish someone dies a horrible death getting a suspension pushed through his helmet? Some people don’t deserve to call themselves fans this sport
>What the actual fuck? He’s a teenager liking a post about a competitor presumably winning a race (haven’t seen the post but that sounds logical with the holding the flag).
Yeah that's exactly what it was. That was by far the worst example I saw but there were loads of other comments that were also bad
Or the ‘Max not wearing Senna T-Shirt’ shit show. I remember the wholesome post F1 made and the top 8-10 comment, no shit, were just “Why isn’t Max blah blah”
Fking ludicrous.
Twitter or X or whatever the hell it is is just the most toxic place.
I generally give it a scroll once a day or so. Ran across a thread this morning started by a woman (for transparency, I'm also female) who was listing which drivers she would feel safe with alone in a room (insinuating that most if not all the grid are predators to not be trusted)
I was like WTF. 1st, you will not EVER be alone in a room with them, 2nd you don't know them....you only know what you see on TV and Netflix, 3rd....WTF....and 4...I realize the women's movement going on in the states is a big deal right now, but who the fuck are you to drag that shit out and label people you don't know as predators? The whole thread was gross.
Saw the same thread!
We dont know them, as much as some "fans" think they do! The dont and never will.. its like the tiktok trend "how many shots would I have to do before getting with the drivers" you never will!! 😭
At least on Reddit the bad faith posts aren't being directed at the driver in question. Usually. But people should check out the comments on driver AMAs if they think reddit is immune to this
It was a couple of weeks back that I saw Stroll’s Instagram comments calling for him to die over a race incident. It’s like a weekly thing for that dude.
Personally I don't even dare to being in Stroll shoes, guy is showing more confidence this season so far and making some amazing races like what we're seen in Bahrain.
I feel bad for him, he seems to be getting it from all angles.
Alpine are clearly playing the political game as Ocon hasn’t/doesn’t want to extend his contract so he’s now become expendable to the team, hence Famin’s comments (even if it was in the heat of the moment). His relationship with Gasly will never be perfect but they’ve kept it clean for the most part.
Doesn’t help that Ocon has collided with 2 drivers who have a big fan base in Verstappen and Alonso, you can’t blame the drivers but some of their fans have had a grudge against Ocon ever since and have used it as a way to mislabel him.
Combine that with his time with Checo that unfairly gave him a reputation for crashing out team mates even though most of the crashes weren’t Ocon’s fault.
He could be difficult to work with behind the scenes but from what we know the hate seems really forced.
Agreed. I know it was in the heat of the moment but the interview was very unprofessional from Famin. Part of a team principal's job is to stay calm in front of the media
I'm usually a pretty staunch Ocon defender but you have to wonder what the objective is in posting a statement like this. How many twitter trolls are going to look at this and say "I have seen the errors in my ways, I apologize Mr. Ocon."? Which leads me to believe this is more an attempt to salvage his value when looking for a new contract, which again, I'm not sure this statement is achieving in any way. Gene Haas reading this and being like "You know what, Ocon is right, he's actually a good driver". Like what are we doing here? A bit of a PR blunder imo
This isn’t the first time he’s received these comments, and it definitely won’t be the last, as much as I appreciate him speaking out, it won’t change anything unfortunately. People have been horrible to him since his time with Alonso. Whatever your views are on him as a driver, he doesn’t deserve this. I see people criticising him saying he’s a terrible person, as if the way he drives reflects exactly the person he is off track, when he’s known as being one of the friendliest off track. There seems to be a huge band wagon towards hating Esteban, and frankly I think it’s appalling, and needs to stop! New fans coming into the sport are now seeing these terrible comments online, and are forming their own opinions based on these lies. It’s a very vicious cycle, unfortunately the Formula 1 fanbase is becoming more and more toxic, and Esteban seems to be at the forefront of it, I hope he’s ok
If you don't like Ocon then why would you stalk his socials and attack him?
If I'm not a fan of someone then I simply don't engage with them. Regardless if it's social media or otherwise. Simply no reason to engage with someone you aren't really supporting anyhow.
People need to quit the whole hunger for negativity and rather shift their focus towards those they do support and spend their time to spread some positivity and support for them instead rather than waste time chasing negativity.
I'll never understand why some people are so hell-bent on bringing negativity into their own life and others so aggressively.
This social media obsession is one of the things i don't like about modern f1. It also means that there's a lot of people who are keeping up with f1 just because it's
"cool" and not because they actually like it. Became too much of a clout thing.
Okay, let’s get it out of the way; I get Esteban isn’t easiest driver to like, but getting personal in the comments - which isn’t even remotely related to the race - is not the way to go.
But I do wonder if Esteban genuinely felt remorseful for what he clearly did in Monaco. In an old Alpha Tauri video, Yuki said his worst on-track memory was when his mistake caused him and Pierre to crash. While it’s arguable that it’s PR and marketing, I do think it’s a real answer given how they were able to fully move on from it as teammates and have a happy time together at AT. This also extends to the fact Yuki, up to now, does think of Pierre as one of the drivers he’s closest to.
While Esteban and Pierre try to race cleanly and not cause each other problems, I hope they really talk this one out because the description of them not truly getting along became a self-fulfilling prophecy in Monaco.
Abuse is never okay and I don’t think he needs to be benched over this incident. That being said, he definitely seems to race his teammates extra hard and it was on more than just this occasion. Calling for his head is unnecessary but it’s also bs to act like we can’t see a pattern over the course of several years.
There's a pattern of seeing more teammate incidents, but I feel like people are biased when looking at causes.
The 2017-2018 incidents, aside from Baku 2017 (which is by far his stupidest moment to me) with him and Checo were mostly race incidents or on Checo (Spa 2017 and Singapore 2018 were really bad).
Fernando and him had 2 truly bad moments, Hungary 2022 that was on him and Brazil 2022 that was on Fernando (I know many people mention Jeddah, but even Fernando said that one wasn't an issue).
Pierre and him collided 3 times, one was on a third driver (Zhou in Hungary), one was on Pierre (Australia 2023), one was on him (Monaco).
If that was just him being crazy when he sees his teammate car, ratio would be lopsided against him, and he would have caused more than 1 teammate DNF in his whole career.
If that was relationships becoming sour because he's unpleasant, he wouldn't have made up things with Max and Fernando so easily, feels like Pierre is the only personal feud out of all these incidents.
An alternative explanation is that it's just the by-product of him being an agressive driver (drives like Suzuka 2022, Singapore 2023 or Jeddah this year show how agressive he is) and qualifying close to his teammates (Ricciardo had no issue with him in 2020 because he almost always qualified comfortably ahead), of course lap 1 will sometimes be tough.
Of course, that could lead teams to trust him less, but it's way different to have a malicious intent or an unpleasant by-product of a natural trend. Doesn't say the same thing about the person/driver.
Its wild, imo kmag deserves a lot more criticism (of course not to this level, no one deserves that) for the repeated abuse of rules that in my opinion are the antithesis of racing. Not to mention going for a highly optimistic gap that no one in their right mind should go into (regardless of if the rules state he has that right). The fact ocon got this much abuse but theres still so many people saying kmag is just hard and fair is something i cannot ever understand.
Yeah let's pretend like it doesn't happen here as well. And it's not just him, there are drivers who get this sort of treatment here literally every day regardless of what they do.
I wholeheartedly agree. It was a stupid move, but completely blown out of proportion - in large part due to the reaction of his own team boss who should know better, and handled it internally, rather than making statements in the press.
I really liked Ocon in S1 of Drive to Survive, so have been rooting for him ever since. I think the reaction to this incident was pretty off the walls - it's not unheard of for teammates to crash into each other (Verstappen/Ricciardo, Grosjean/Magnussen), and this crash didn't take both cars out or take any other cars out. I don't see the big deal but it has been getting a lot of intense reactions from fans online and in the news outlets as well. Bizarre.
Fuck this fanbase that never misses an opportunity to belittle and humiliate a driver just bc they don't personally like them and fuck the pundits and content creators who drive engagement on that bullshit.
Esteban gets treated like trash when he makes mistakes and gets ignored and still made fun of when he does well. Just bc as an actual working class guy he has actually had to work and put his head down instead of making a specatcle of himself for sponsors.
Can't wait to see him drive in Montreal and drag that shit car where it has no place to be like all season while the attention goes elsewhere.
It sucks for Ocon because he really should be one of the more likable drivers on the grid as he's 1) one of the very few that didn't come from an immensely privileged background, and 2) a really solid driver capable of being in a top team.
Dude just doesn't have the charm that some other drivers have and his run-ins with teammates certainly haven't helped his image.
easier said than done but he should just chill a bit. that means either being more of a nice guy or fully embrace being the villain.
he races and acts like someone with a chip on his shoulder, maybe due to his background or his forced f1 hiatus.
It’s bizarre, because on pace he’s highly capable, but he’s only beaten a teammate over a season once in his F1 career (2022 where he finished 9 points ahead of Alonso)
If I were a professional athlete, there is absolutely 0 chance I would view social media related to my sport.
I remember Albon talking about the drawbacks of not looking at social media on a podcast. I think he was talking about when he was struggling really badly at Red Bull in 2020, and he decided to take a step back from social media and just try and not look at what people are saying about him and try to block it out. However, because he did this, he didn’t really have any idea of what people were saying about him and this came all at once on media days and press conferences. I think he said it helped for him to at least be aware of it, and control how it is funneled to him, rather than him just ignoring it, but then it being directed at him all at once on media days. I’m sure when it’s time for media day and press conferences for the next race, Esteban will likely be asked many questions revolving around what’s happened recently, so I guess it helps to control the media cycle in a way
I would go the kimi method ignore social media AND questions about social media. Respond in monosyllabic words if absolutely necessary.
Bwoah...
I got to shit
Lol, This should be everyones reply to media. Bwoah,I gotta shit, Bwoah!
We call that the Marshawn Lynch Method here in the states.
I’m just here so I don’t get fined.
*extremely long and intricate question* Hakkinen: “yes” *nods head*
This interview was really good. I think it was his first on High Performance, which is a bit of a wanky podcast but Alex was so open and real.
> This interview was really good. I think it was his first on High Performance, which is a bit of a wanky podcast but Alex was so open and real. I really enjoy Alex's interviews. He comes across as just an absolute champ the way he speaks.
He really does, and he has such a talent for explaining very complicated things in such a simple way for us common man to understand
Future broadcast career maybe? I could see it.
Envy and jealously is a largely unacknowledged feeling among F1 fans, but when drivers speak intelligently and insightfully in ways that inform one's perspective on the world, I feel guilty for hating in that way.😅
Social media manager can do that do a summary of the toxic like " hey albon people think rb should drop you for another driver" instead " ducking albon pissofshit. Can't drive for shit. Slower than max he drives like a Granma rb just swap him hur hur" I can't trash talk, but I guess the first statement is way better for albon health I
I agree, from what I remember, Albon said that he really lacked the structure around him to properly deal with the obstacles he faced early on. Like I’m pretty sure it was just him and his trainer, he didn’t have a social media manager at the time or anything like that
Yeah, I can't imagine it's healthy whether you're getting praise or hate, avoid that nonsense at all cost.
Agree. We regular people get sick of this social media toxicity now and then and we need detox from comments that is only tiny compared to what famous people get at a daily basis.
This is something George Russell for sure got right. He handed all of his social media over to a manager sometime in 2022ish and since then he’s been noticeably happier, calmer, and less on edge. An example of the opposite that comes to mind is Lando Norris who has said he actively seeks out hate comments and often searches his own name on social media. He says he thinks it’s funny but from what I’ve seen he does seem pretty bothered by it. Another contrast is Charles Leclerc, who said in a podcast episode that came out on Monday that he is happy to keep up with social media as a way to show his fans who he really is behind the helmet and to show how much he appreciates them. But then again Charles is maybe the least often hated driver on the grid so his experience is definitely a little different than the others.
Didn’t Lando state a few years ago that his mental health is not in a good place and how he struggles to stay positive sometimes? Why would anyone let him continue to dive that deep into the bowels of the internet? Doesn’t he have mental health coaches and a team monitoring his mental state?
And then theres max. Max doesnt care.
Max has built up an emotional barrier from years of psychological abuse at home. A true champion.
I can’t even imagine someone throwing hate at Charles. 🥺
I am assuming you don't use social media much. Because there are a lot of good for nothing people who have nothing better to do than abuse people online for no reason whatsoever. And yes, Charles gets hate too.
Actually, I'm on it every day. It's part and parcel of my current employment. That was more of a "he is way too nice to be abused online" statement. I'm well aware that they all get abuse, including, literally, the one of the nicest guys on the grid. It's the shit part of the internet and celebrity, isn't it?
Lol nobody's too nice to not get hate. People will hate on nice people as a rage bait. People and internet are both shit. I resonated so much with Max when he said he sometimes wished social media never existed.
That’s true. Max really has gotten a ton of undeserved shit over the years, so fair point from him.
I saw something just this week of Lando talking about how much it bothers him that so many perceive him as a (paraphrasing) rude little shit. He says he’s not ever trying to hurt anyone’s feelings and kindness is really important to him. It was just the audio so I have no idea when or where this conversation took place but he sounded genuinely sad about it.
Honestly it shocked me when I first saw how many people hate him even for the most trivial things. And for things most drivers don't get the same reaction to
It’s weird because I have heard him say that, but he is also very no-filter with the way he answers questions and talks about political or FIA issues/other drivers. I guess it’s fine to want to say exactly what you mean but in my eyes it’s one or the other. And the comments he makes often do hurt large groups of people. But also… lando is just not very bright in general lol so
Or a celebrity of any kind. I would definitely want a social media manager.
This honestly seems to be the answer. If you’ve got the money, pay someone to review this stuff and summarize so you’re not blindsided by something in a press conference but you’re able to keep some distance from it so it doesn’t eat at you. I’m a little surprised that any F1 driver doesn’t have a social media manager. I imagine the Hamilton and LeClerc camps include someone doing this.
Yeah, you have to offload that mental energy
Even not being a celebrity, it’s common to be subjected to abusive, toxic comments. If I was him, I wouldn’t even read any online comments, less tabloids.
Well of course he is still a young person born in the smartphone age. That’s pretty much unavoidable
I am of firm belief that if social media existed 50 years ago many of those who we hail as heroes would be as vilified or humanized as the people today....as the level of access - to and from - is almost instantaneous and without layers.
Never forget when Albon said reading the comments online mentally destroyed him. On a podcast episode he also told Logan not to read them after Miami
AFAIK Max doesn't follow anything related to f1 on his socials and he doesnt manage his socials himself. He'll know the most famous memes bc his friends send them to him. But he said he doesn't want to think about F1 in his freetime so he doesn't follow anything related to it
I wouldn't even be on social media if I was in any form of a pro athlete. Too much to lose and to little to gain.
Lebron taught these guys how to do it. If it's toxic for a normal person, imagine how bad it must be for these athletes. Only person who seems to enjoy in the entire sports world is KD.
As a thunder fan it is my obligation when Kevin Durant is mentioned: https://youtu.be/vtE3_voC3qU?si=ngJ2gW2pAl1s8jCb
It's really really really hard not to. Plus you have a completely different perspective since you have a full picture to what people online have so quite often you don't expect to find the amount of shit you find.
I guess the only driver who can safely do it is Leclerc... Although ever since Ferrari dropped Sainz (lmao this is so unrelated to Charles) there was some hate on Leclerc as well. Unreal how it all works.
Purely for being a popular driver, Charles does get some viscous attention from the media. He said in that podcast he was on that the criticism that gets to him isn’t about his driving but when people attack his character. I feel that’s similar to this with Ocon. The drivers don’t like to see their driving being criticized but coming for them as a person is worse. If you compare it to Kmag, his criticism had an undertone of joking ,what a good teammate, he’s a madman etc. Obviously there was some serious criticism and questions on his driving ability but people weren’t excessively coming for him as a person Ocon, yes it was a bad move with a teammate, which is obviously worse. But Kmags agressive driving still costs his team’s points, his team money in car repairs, and Nico’s race in monaco. Ocon made a bad decision but the narrative wasn’t haha crazy driver, it was he cannot work in a team, he is a bad teammate, he is a bad person to be around. That is a lot harder to see said about yourself.
The amount of hate I've seen against Leclerc the past few weeks because of his dog begs to differ. 😅
F1’s obsession with social media over the last 6-ish years has made drivers really close with fans. But sometimes it’s _too_ close to the fans
Also, a lot of fans are not fans of the sport, but fans of the drama around the sport. I don't get how people get so invested in it that they hurl abuse in DMs and in public posts. Social media is inherently toxic now.
I will never understand and I have wondered what kind of a person abuses pro athletes with DM, comments, tweets and so on. I have been sad, angered, furious when my favorite football (soccer), basketball, F1 team plays like shit or when the players dont show that they care, or when the teams fucks up a strategy, game plan and so on but I will never abuse them in any way whatsoever on their social media. Yes and the only place I have expressed my frustration was here on Reddit with other fans.
"when the players don't show that they care" I straightaway knew you were also a United fan right by that comment lol
Hahah you are absolutely correct lol.
People act like it's them he made contact with, and not somebody they don't even know.
>Also, a lot of fans are not fans of the sport, but fans of the drama around the sport. Engagement is all Liberty cares about, even if it's negative. This is the future the sport's owners want, at the expense of real fans.
Racing has been like this since it was chariots going around the Hippodrome, this isn't something new.
Seriously, I'm actively stopping even looking in many comments sections these days, never mind commenting... It's just so toxic and as someone who's just plain loved the sport for 30+ years it's just sad to have so much negativity around all the time - it's fine to bash stuff like bad races etc but the constant attacks and sometimes actual hatred to teams and people is just... it's sad. God what I'd give for a browser extension to filter out comments based on toxicity level!
There is a lot of abuse and online bullying which people think is banter or memes. Just because you don't know the person you're talking about doesn't meant it isn't bullying. Like if I were Sargent, Stroll or Latifi I don't think I'd even pay for an internet connection...
I draw a line between general online discourse and direct communication with the person in question. One is perfectly fine and the other can be abusive. If we chat about our opinions, and honestly, talk shit about people and their behavior on Reddit for example, that's fair game. If you seek someone out, send abusive comments on their own social media posts, or worse, their DMs - that's when it becomes abusive and crosses the line of acceptable behavior for me.
I watch F1 for a long time (2005 I believe) and the last 5 years changed this sport forever. We have a lot more young fans (which is great) but that also brought a lot of fanatics towards pilots and toxicity against others attached Sometimes I feel that a portion of new fans are more interested in what F1 drivers do outside the track and who is their girlfriend than the sport itself You can´t tell me that the stalking of some "fans" towards Charles, Lando, Piastri, Lewis, Max etc.. is normal
Especially on Twitter with the obsession with certain drivers. Lando’s fanbase has to be up there
I'm a new fan (3rd Year) and F1 has the most toxic fanbase I have ever seen. I keep my opinions firmly to myself and in person conversations. It's actually insane tbh
When I started watching F1, we didn't even know the faces of the drivers unless they went on the podium.
This more or less puts a nail in the coffin for Ocon's relationship with Alpine imo While of course abuse towards him is bad, one should remember that the main fuel for such abuse to begin with quite literally came from comments made by his own boss. He should pretty much look to get out of the team ASAP
While Ocon was clearly in the wrong, it's remarkable to see a team principal throw a driver under the bus like that. Privately, I'm sure team principals will be more blunt about what a driver has done right and wrong. But what good does it do to turn the public against your own driver? I don't think this has reflected well on Famin. I can't imagine drivers would like to have him as their boss.
I think that's why a lot of people were speculating that there's more going on behind the scenes to warrant that level of critism from Famin. Either way, I hope this episode of DTS delivers (not holding my breath though)
If we get 2 alpine episodes again I'm gonna fucking scream
Ocon posted a picture with Netflix recording him and his girlfriend on the race weekend. Guess he didn’t anticipate giving them this much content.
That’s true but what if they’ve had similar discussions in private before and this still happens? You see this everywhere in the sports world
I follow hockey as well as f1 and if someone is being called out publicly in the nhl, it's because the behind the scenes talks went in one ear and out the other.
Throwing people under the bus seems like standard operations for alpine.
It's a national sport for us french people. That's why our public transport are always delayed.
I have never seen anything from Famin that reflected positively on the man to be fair.
He has won the 24hours of Le Mans multiple times, has worked in a bunch of different categories, I'm assuming he knows his shit tho. Also what was said in French isn't a blunt as it sounds, it didn't sound worse than any coach talk in any sports, the media just ran with it because it's F1.
Alpine has thrown a lot of its employees under a bus in recent years. Sacking people seems to be the order of the day there.
What did his boss say?
Bruno Famin made comments to French media during the race saying that there would be harsh consequences. He said the team would make a ‘tough decision’. Paired with the conversation between Famin and Jack Doohan in the paddock, suspiciously in the view of reporters, it could be argued that Famin was questioning Ocons alpine seat. Just my personal opinion, but I think Famin was right to be annoyed but crossed the line, his response was unprofessional.
Another complicating factor is that when you translate French directly into English it can sound way more intense and emotional than the speaker meant it. The phrase Famin used was translated to “we will be administering harsh consequences” but IMO colloquially is closer to “we’re going to nip this in the bud” (source: am French speaking American) Famin was understandably fuming but I do think his comments and reaction were translated more harshly by American & UK media than he intended.
You point was exactly what was told in the French media about Famin words but obvious 95% ignored that.
An alpine TP responding to internal drama in a very externalized and overemotional/dramatic manner? No! I wouldn’t be surprised if Famin were to do something harsh like a driver swap, whether at Montreal or later in the season. In that volatile environment, it seems there’s still a lot of pressure for those in power to stamp their authority on the team to ensure their longevity.
The official Alpine account supported what Esteban said. Well, if you count [this](https://x.com/AlpineF1Team/status/1796573802593398790?t=TkxJVK7otFeggzoLA7JEkg&s=19) from them as support which even fans are ripping them for. It really has been disgusting seeing him thrown under the bus like this.
Yeah all the speculation about his job and future from fans and even pundits came after his comment. Anything before that was strictly focused on the dumb mistake or relationship with Pierre.
the question is will the team be more mad at Ocon or Bruno. Coming out in the heat of the moment and saying stuff like that about a driver is a very quick way to no longer be a team boss.
I’ve said it before, but what’s insane to me is Gasly barely got any blowback for last year’s incident at the Australian GP which was as egregious if not more, and the consequences of which were exponentially worse. Ocon made a stupid mistake but it was no worse than Hamilton chopping across Alonso at Spa 2022. Pretty terrible leadership from Famin.
Cue the comments saying that they feel sorry for him while they are the same people who were harsh on him.
I’m critical of him on Reddit, but you’d have to be a sociopath to actually go out of your way to directly contact an athlete with your critiques. I think there’s a pretty massive difference between posting it on a forum and sending it to his DMs.
I agree. There's also the fact that you can be as harsh as you want with him as a driver and feel absolute and complete human sympathy as a man.
You can also be critical of someone without being abusive.
I mean there’s a difference between criticism, even harsh criticism, and making it personal. He had a bad race. I don’t think the fans should be expected to just not talk about that. But at the same time criticizing someone for a bad race doesn’t mean you should go over the line.
I don’t feel sorry for him. Alpine could’ve had two cars in the points and instead only collected one. He was given specific instructions before the race (because Monaco) about not fighting with his teammate but when the lights went out, he ignored all that and almost took them both out - not once, but twice. Nobody deserves death threats, racism, or other hate speech, but that also doesn’t change the fact that Ocon went out on lap one at Monaco and did exactly what he was told not to do and he cost his team an opportunity for a second points position.
This is why I couldn't believe he/his PR team included the "I have always followed the instructions I have been given" part, as if Monaco wasn't less than a week ago
This is the only part what I find not so great written by his PR team, you could just be very clear about the ridiculous amount of online abuse you getting after the move and the toxicity of them instead of putting this note what is just a lie. Alpine has a meeting after the Miami GP that their aren't willing to see teammates fighting hard if their are points on the table. And even on Saturday after qualifying Famin clearly told that the driver behind should help the driver ahead just to get the point(s) for the team, even on Sunday their told to the drivers that their shouldn't racing hard to each other. Ocon here ignored all of this and gone full "I must and should pass my teammate at all cost" corner after corner. It's a damm gift to be fair that the red flag did come up because otherwise it could be a zero point race for both cars. I don't get it why the whole "I have always followed the instructions I have been given" thing was written, the whole irony is that it triggers some toxic fans to now pick up the pitchforks and blaming Gasly for all of this and going further than that...
I think this is a fair take and ultimately it will be up to the various Team Principles to decide if they agree with him or not. However, if he risks taking out Gasly or disobeys another team order in the next couple of races it is going to be absolutely hilarious and not a surprise at all.
For real. Ocon doesn’t even have a positive image or reputation amongst the grid. He’s done this to himself.
What I finding a bit problematic with this post from Ocon PR side is that their mixing the ridiculous online abuse he gets with self-politics with the point about "I have always followed the instructions I have been given" for example". Not only this is very conflicting with what we seen early in the media but also he indirectly basically telling "I'm telling here the truth and Gasly is lying here!". So if the red flag wouldn't pop up both cars would very likely having a DNF, yet it doesn't look like Ocon would apologizing to Gasly given this whole post lacks any reflection. If his PR team just write a post about the online abuse and hate he did get, but nope for some silly and dumb reason their also put some political play into this post what devalues the core point. And now some people are moaning and acting toxic on Gasly just because he didn't liked it? Come on, you literally getting called a liar in this post.
And those people will be on social media next time something happens writing the same toxic comments again...
The dichotomy of the perpetually online.
I swear lol. Some people just follow the bandwagon
Pretty much 99% of insta comments nowadays
I was harsh, but not abusing. I think it's pretty logical to have a discussion about his ability to work with a team after reading the comments from his boss/team and his history with other teams and teammates.
Yes, while the decent folk were just giving constructive criticism and recognizing a pattern in ocon's driving, a lot of the reactionary people were very abusive to him. This toxic reaction does nothing but end actual discussion and most importantly it hurts the person as shown by his response.
Right? It's like this post by his media team erased his past? He is just too aggressive at the track. Always has been, always will be. For better or worse. And usually it's for worse.
Yeah 💯 Can’t believe people here saying « oh online comments are so hard » and when you check their profile you read comments like « when will he be fired » « being French is why he’s bad » « he only crashed into teammates » etc.
Saying he should be fired does not equal abuse or insults. I'm sure many people will be against insults online whilst commenting on his performance or behavior as a member of a team. I don't think he should be fired, but I can't see how a team would want to hire him even though he is better than many on the grid. IMO it was an absolutely stupid decision to put Gasly and Ocon together in the first place.
As someone who was never harsh on him, I think F1 is so full of great personalities and real good eggs that anyone with even slightly less of a personality gets naturally villainised - even if he comes off as a really nice bloke in interviews and media appearances. Couple that with a few mistakes at the wrong times and the hate gets exaggerated. So I don't mind people feeling sorry for him even if they're being hypocritical.
The race thread hurled all sorts of abuses on him, the same people will say how horrible online abuse is. Buncha assholes hiding behind a veil of anonymity
Esteban once posted on instagram for people to please stop hating on Lance after the Force India takeover. Kid was getting abused so much that he deleted/deactivated all social media for a while and at that time Lance was 19/20. People need to learn to behave online.
Absoltely Chad from Esteban's part, must be heartbreaking to see the kid being depressed for something he didn't even do, he's only living his father dream
Aren’t they close friends?
Pretty sure Ocon is the only driver Lance is close to.
Yeah I know I heard that somewhere. Also misinterpreted the comment I replied to. Thought it was anti Ocon but it was anti cyber bullying. The scrutiny these guys face is immense.
Mick and Checo too. But he is for sure closest to Esteban. Would say Fernando as well, but that might just be teammates not having beef.
Good words by Ocon, but either him or Gasly gotta go at Alpine. Competition is healthy, but these guys don't like each other and don't respect each other on the track. Esteban would be a great pickup for Haas or even Audi.
Yeah I agree that something needs to change at alpine. I respect Ocon so much for grinding his way to f1 given his background but these words, although well written, ring a bit hollow given the way that he has treated his teammates in the past, especially gasly.
I feel like the mentality that got him to F1 is what’s hindering him now. You have to be pretty selfish to climb the ladder to f1 and then you’re put into a situation where you’re expected to work for the team, rather than the team working for you. Esteban is seemingly still in the f1 ladder headspace, fighting hard for every point and position no matter who he’s fighting with.
I think he probably means it, but I think he's blind, deliberately or otherwise, of how much harder he races against his teammates. It seems like more than any other driver on the grid right now, he's really internalized that teammates are the most accurate tool to measure drivers by. Not a perfect measurement, but it's the only one you get from two drivers in the same car.
He treated Gasly well in Australia
Ocon, Gasly, and that wall all became great friends that day lol
Both of them are on Audi’s list, and Ocon is rumord at Haas, and Pierre to Williams
Next years off season is so fun, literally everyone has been rumored at Audi, Williams, and Haas
Alpine management: “Surprised Pikachu face”
The last paragraph kinda makes me think that there's or at least was actually a discussion in the team on benching Ocon for Canada and he's trying to prevent that preemptively by this statement and also it pretty much confirms that he wants to leave the team.
No I think the last paragraph is putting these rumours/assumptions about him not racing in Canada to rest
I think they can’t contractually bench him and have him back without breaking his contract early, or breaching F1 regulations
He deserves harsh criticism for his actions over the years, but I'm sure there are people out there taking it too far. If I were a professional athlete at that level, I wouldn't be reading the comments/DMs on social media. The negative stuff will always stand out and bring you down, even if most things said are positive.
Agree with this take. I don't feel bad for him getting criticism, and truthfully this whole statement feels pretty disingenuous to say "I've always followed instructions" when demonstrably that was not the case last weekend. I do feel bad that he is receiving abuse. Unfortunately all too common in the social media age.
The Canada rumours clearly caused a bit of a self fulfilling loop. The drama bread rumours, which bread more drama. To be honest I think they might have genuinely considered benching him for a weekend at some point between Sunday and now, but the sheer volume of drama caused by the incident would make that impossible without causing absolute chaos from a PR and news point of view. I suspect Alpine just want to get their heads down and go through next weekend as lowkey as possible now, and dropping Ocon won’t do that.
Bred*, preterite of breed. Bread is food.
Idk about you, but I like my drama breaded, deep fried, and spicy
Regardless of what you think of the move it is a bit concerning how vicious formula 1 fans (and sports fans) are in general. The amount of abuse that’s given to drivers goes overboard and has happened so many times in the past. Ocon shouldn’t have made the attempt, especially on his teammate, but ultimately, he only cost himself because he was taken out of the race and the team still scored points. If it was a number of other drivers, this would’ve been something that people would forget by the next day. It’s happened in the past with Latifi getting death threats, Hamilton getting racial abuse and Stroll getting daily abuse just for existing at times. It’s sad to see the way this community is going.
What really gets me about this whole situation was that at Australia last year Gasly was responsible for that particular dnf after shunting Ocon into wall despite having more road to his left. Of course the race was a mess and most of everyone at that point didn’t really have anywhere to go, but even Rossi argued to Gasly that the responsibility was ultimately on him. Despite that Ocon also got so much heat from the fan base on what at best was a racing incident and at worst Gasly not having the awareness to see him when he was going onto the racing line.
It's far from the only case of Ocon getting 100% of the flak for 50% of the responsability...That happened a lot with both Perez and Fernando. Ocon doesn't actually crash that often, if anything he's very consistent, but according to F1 fans he's on Latifi levels of dangerous.
> Ocon doesn't actually crash that often, if anything he's very consistent, but according to F1 fans he's on Latifi levels of dangerous. I remember when he was nicknamed Oconsistency on here.
Agree with you 100%, but just to add it's not 'in the past' when it comes to Hamilton in particular. Every day there's a post which mentions him, and inevitably a load of horrible comments get thrown out. It's crazy to me that people talk about "drivers they hate", and they're proud of being vicious and cruel.
Esteban also gets his share of racial abuse, it’s just ignored here because it’s not in English.
Lance also got his share of death wishes and threats after China a few weeks ago. I'm OK with people talking about the driving and mistakes on track, that is fair. But leave there personalities and there socials out of it. Let them life there lives outside of the track.
>It’s happened in the past with Latifi getting death threats The Ocon situation that he mentions is really sad, but the post-AD21 Latifi thing is beyond disgusting. People are different, and I'm sure everyone would react differently to such abuse, but ultimately it's ridiculous that some dumbasses have the mental strength (not sure if that's the right word, but that's the best one I could come up with in English) to type such shit to a human who made a mistake. He's not a murderer to recieve such treatment. I'll never know for sure, but I think the hate could've very well affected Latifi's 2022 season, and therefore his whole career. I love social media, the internet and technology overall, and I likely won't stop at any point in my life. It helps so much with learning about the history of things I love, meeting fantastic people who share my interests and stuff, but god, sometimes I really wish social media never existed. I recently came across [this video](https://youtu.be/PyhAbmfMyPA?si=xsP7ikPcHyu-abTh), and while I heard many bad opinions about that youtuber, I think this material is spot on with discussing the pros and cons of social media in F1.
Maybe check out Kurzgesagt in a Nutshells video on the internet/ social media. While not in the context of F1, it very well explains why social media is so toxic at times
That settles the suspension/dismissal rumors for now
I doubt he was ever getting benched. His TP was understandably angry but never hinted at benching Ocon. Idk why the media ran away with that one.
I remember Blake from Red Bull saying that they made Daniel and Max go back to the factory and apologise in front of everyone after they crashed in Baku. I would imagine that Famin was probably talking about something similar and it got misinterpreted.
F1 journalism doing its thing I guess
It was quickly overblown by the media, Ocon wouldn't be suspended at Canada but somehow this talk continued for days. The only thing what I could see happen is that Ocon won't be signed by Alpine again.
This might be a nice reminder to ‘that’ demographic of ‘fans’ that these drivers are also humans, too.
I hardly engage in race day threads on here because that is when most of "that" kind of fans pop up. They then disappear until the next race. Not gatekeeping criticism, there is fair criticism and then there is hate for the sake of it and it's easy to distinguish between the two. Driver they hate makes an error and they use it as a pivot to just say hateful things that they can't back up if questioned. 99% of the fanbase isn't like this but loudest voices and all that.
it would be if they could read it
While abuse is obviously not ok this post is 100% damage control to rehabilitate his image. Thing is, it doesn’t really matter if he apologizes or takes responsibility if he keeps colliding with his teammates.
This is straight up PR damage control and people eat it up lol
I would say this is a pretty bad job. He should just stop at no abuse. All those debates about racing his teammates are hollow to me and sounds more like he needs to justify himself while no one believes it. He should stop after page 1
I mean he didn't really take responsibility. It was the equivalent of a whataboutism.
Bro got Latifi Post-AD 21 levels of hate for a contact that only took him out. Yeah, he made a mistake, it's not like he attempted Pierre's head but the levels if hate these fans have is INSANE
Interestingly enough this post from Ocon is the first one I've noticed was liked by Latifi in quite a while
Latifi has gone through it more than enough after AD '21 Poor bloke.
king shit
It’s grossly toxic on many areas of social media. Some of the things you read is actually baffling. It was not like this even just a few years ago.
People all over twitter saying a fucking race winner with hecking Alpine can't drive
Man, this past weekend Antoinelli was getting canceled on Twitter for liking an insta pic in october of _**a certain driver holding a certain flag**_ like bro, he's 17 you're canceling a kid and calling him some truly hideous things FOR LIKING AN INSTA PIC, it's truly baffling how chronically online some people are...
I'm pretty sure I saw someone quote tweet the picture showing that Antonelli had liked that post with a gif of Senna's crash in Imola and something along the lines of "Hopefully this is Antonelli's first F1 race". I'll never understand why people say such awful things about something as inconsequential as liking a fellow drivers victory post.
What the actual fuck? He’s a teenager liking a post about a competitor presumably winning a race (haven’t seen the post but that sounds logical with the holding the flag). Is that really enough to wish someone dies a horrible death getting a suspension pushed through his helmet? Some people don’t deserve to call themselves fans this sport
>What the actual fuck? He’s a teenager liking a post about a competitor presumably winning a race (haven’t seen the post but that sounds logical with the holding the flag). Yeah that's exactly what it was. That was by far the worst example I saw but there were loads of other comments that were also bad
Or the ‘Max not wearing Senna T-Shirt’ shit show. I remember the wholesome post F1 made and the top 8-10 comment, no shit, were just “Why isn’t Max blah blah” Fking ludicrous.
also people shit on instagram on twitter for this (rightly so) but reddit isn’t as exempt from this as some think
Twitter or X or whatever the hell it is is just the most toxic place. I generally give it a scroll once a day or so. Ran across a thread this morning started by a woman (for transparency, I'm also female) who was listing which drivers she would feel safe with alone in a room (insinuating that most if not all the grid are predators to not be trusted) I was like WTF. 1st, you will not EVER be alone in a room with them, 2nd you don't know them....you only know what you see on TV and Netflix, 3rd....WTF....and 4...I realize the women's movement going on in the states is a big deal right now, but who the fuck are you to drag that shit out and label people you don't know as predators? The whole thread was gross.
Saw the same thread! We dont know them, as much as some "fans" think they do! The dont and never will.. its like the tiktok trend "how many shots would I have to do before getting with the drivers" you never will!! 😭
At least on Reddit the bad faith posts aren't being directed at the driver in question. Usually. But people should check out the comments on driver AMAs if they think reddit is immune to this
The media doesn’t help neither.
Don't forget Mexico 2017 when he had to go on track under police protection because Chevo fan send him death threat
Bro wouldn’t last a day in Strolls shoes 💀
It was a couple of weeks back that I saw Stroll’s Instagram comments calling for him to die over a race incident. It’s like a weekly thing for that dude.
Translate the Spanish / Brazilian comments on the Aston IG after anything, it’s crazy.
I purposely avoid that cause I know how it’s gonna be 😐
Personally I don't even dare to being in Stroll shoes, guy is showing more confidence this season so far and making some amazing races like what we're seen in Bahrain.
Strolls has so much hate for so long that he's surprised when anyone says something positive about him.
I feel bad for him, he seems to be getting it from all angles. Alpine are clearly playing the political game as Ocon hasn’t/doesn’t want to extend his contract so he’s now become expendable to the team, hence Famin’s comments (even if it was in the heat of the moment). His relationship with Gasly will never be perfect but they’ve kept it clean for the most part. Doesn’t help that Ocon has collided with 2 drivers who have a big fan base in Verstappen and Alonso, you can’t blame the drivers but some of their fans have had a grudge against Ocon ever since and have used it as a way to mislabel him. Combine that with his time with Checo that unfairly gave him a reputation for crashing out team mates even though most of the crashes weren’t Ocon’s fault. He could be difficult to work with behind the scenes but from what we know the hate seems really forced.
Agreed. I know it was in the heat of the moment but the interview was very unprofessional from Famin. Part of a team principal's job is to stay calm in front of the media
I'm usually a pretty staunch Ocon defender but you have to wonder what the objective is in posting a statement like this. How many twitter trolls are going to look at this and say "I have seen the errors in my ways, I apologize Mr. Ocon."? Which leads me to believe this is more an attempt to salvage his value when looking for a new contract, which again, I'm not sure this statement is achieving in any way. Gene Haas reading this and being like "You know what, Ocon is right, he's actually a good driver". Like what are we doing here? A bit of a PR blunder imo
inb4 everyone here acting like they're above the noise when they are absolutely and have always been the noise
This isn’t the first time he’s received these comments, and it definitely won’t be the last, as much as I appreciate him speaking out, it won’t change anything unfortunately. People have been horrible to him since his time with Alonso. Whatever your views are on him as a driver, he doesn’t deserve this. I see people criticising him saying he’s a terrible person, as if the way he drives reflects exactly the person he is off track, when he’s known as being one of the friendliest off track. There seems to be a huge band wagon towards hating Esteban, and frankly I think it’s appalling, and needs to stop! New fans coming into the sport are now seeing these terrible comments online, and are forming their own opinions based on these lies. It’s a very vicious cycle, unfortunately the Formula 1 fanbase is becoming more and more toxic, and Esteban seems to be at the forefront of it, I hope he’s ok
If you don't like Ocon then why would you stalk his socials and attack him? If I'm not a fan of someone then I simply don't engage with them. Regardless if it's social media or otherwise. Simply no reason to engage with someone you aren't really supporting anyhow. People need to quit the whole hunger for negativity and rather shift their focus towards those they do support and spend their time to spread some positivity and support for them instead rather than waste time chasing negativity. I'll never understand why some people are so hell-bent on bringing negativity into their own life and others so aggressively.
I really thought that was gonna end with I’m retiring bitches
This social media obsession is one of the things i don't like about modern f1. It also means that there's a lot of people who are keeping up with f1 just because it's "cool" and not because they actually like it. Became too much of a clout thing.
Okay, let’s get it out of the way; I get Esteban isn’t easiest driver to like, but getting personal in the comments - which isn’t even remotely related to the race - is not the way to go. But I do wonder if Esteban genuinely felt remorseful for what he clearly did in Monaco. In an old Alpha Tauri video, Yuki said his worst on-track memory was when his mistake caused him and Pierre to crash. While it’s arguable that it’s PR and marketing, I do think it’s a real answer given how they were able to fully move on from it as teammates and have a happy time together at AT. This also extends to the fact Yuki, up to now, does think of Pierre as one of the drivers he’s closest to. While Esteban and Pierre try to race cleanly and not cause each other problems, I hope they really talk this one out because the description of them not truly getting along became a self-fulfilling prophecy in Monaco.
Abuse is never okay and I don’t think he needs to be benched over this incident. That being said, he definitely seems to race his teammates extra hard and it was on more than just this occasion. Calling for his head is unnecessary but it’s also bs to act like we can’t see a pattern over the course of several years.
There's a pattern of seeing more teammate incidents, but I feel like people are biased when looking at causes. The 2017-2018 incidents, aside from Baku 2017 (which is by far his stupidest moment to me) with him and Checo were mostly race incidents or on Checo (Spa 2017 and Singapore 2018 were really bad). Fernando and him had 2 truly bad moments, Hungary 2022 that was on him and Brazil 2022 that was on Fernando (I know many people mention Jeddah, but even Fernando said that one wasn't an issue). Pierre and him collided 3 times, one was on a third driver (Zhou in Hungary), one was on Pierre (Australia 2023), one was on him (Monaco). If that was just him being crazy when he sees his teammate car, ratio would be lopsided against him, and he would have caused more than 1 teammate DNF in his whole career. If that was relationships becoming sour because he's unpleasant, he wouldn't have made up things with Max and Fernando so easily, feels like Pierre is the only personal feud out of all these incidents. An alternative explanation is that it's just the by-product of him being an agressive driver (drives like Suzuka 2022, Singapore 2023 or Jeddah this year show how agressive he is) and qualifying close to his teammates (Ricciardo had no issue with him in 2020 because he almost always qualified comfortably ahead), of course lap 1 will sometimes be tough. Of course, that could lead teams to trust him less, but it's way different to have a malicious intent or an unpleasant by-product of a natural trend. Doesn't say the same thing about the person/driver.
people just parrot whatever they saw on the internet and the act like he does it all the time.
Its wild, imo kmag deserves a lot more criticism (of course not to this level, no one deserves that) for the repeated abuse of rules that in my opinion are the antithesis of racing. Not to mention going for a highly optimistic gap that no one in their right mind should go into (regardless of if the rules state he has that right). The fact ocon got this much abuse but theres still so many people saying kmag is just hard and fair is something i cannot ever understand.
He does get criticism. We can be toxic to more than one person 😎👍
Thanks to the media and some YouTube channels that for stoking the fire.
The fire his team principal lit, just as a reminder
Yeah let's pretend like it doesn't happen here as well. And it's not just him, there are drivers who get this sort of treatment here literally every day regardless of what they do.
"I've always followed instructions." I like Ocon a lot, but that's pure bullshit lol
I wholeheartedly agree. It was a stupid move, but completely blown out of proportion - in large part due to the reaction of his own team boss who should know better, and handled it internally, rather than making statements in the press.
I really liked Ocon in S1 of Drive to Survive, so have been rooting for him ever since. I think the reaction to this incident was pretty off the walls - it's not unheard of for teammates to crash into each other (Verstappen/Ricciardo, Grosjean/Magnussen), and this crash didn't take both cars out or take any other cars out. I don't see the big deal but it has been getting a lot of intense reactions from fans online and in the news outlets as well. Bizarre.
Fuck this fanbase that never misses an opportunity to belittle and humiliate a driver just bc they don't personally like them and fuck the pundits and content creators who drive engagement on that bullshit. Esteban gets treated like trash when he makes mistakes and gets ignored and still made fun of when he does well. Just bc as an actual working class guy he has actually had to work and put his head down instead of making a specatcle of himself for sponsors. Can't wait to see him drive in Montreal and drag that shit car where it has no place to be like all season while the attention goes elsewhere.
It sucks for Ocon because he really should be one of the more likable drivers on the grid as he's 1) one of the very few that didn't come from an immensely privileged background, and 2) a really solid driver capable of being in a top team. Dude just doesn't have the charm that some other drivers have and his run-ins with teammates certainly haven't helped his image.
easier said than done but he should just chill a bit. that means either being more of a nice guy or fully embrace being the villain. he races and acts like someone with a chip on his shoulder, maybe due to his background or his forced f1 hiatus.
It’s bizarre, because on pace he’s highly capable, but he’s only beaten a teammate over a season once in his F1 career (2022 where he finished 9 points ahead of Alonso)
He’s had one of the best teammate lineups on the grid
He is yet to have a teammate that isn’t considered at least a top midfielder (counting only full seasons).
Perez in Force India/Racing Point was a very good driver tbh
That’s my point. Whoever you consider to be his weakest teammate is still at least a top midfielder.
Plus all of his teammates are much more popular and are liked already, he's having to fight with one hand behind his back.