Furious Alpine boss threatens 'consequences' after Ocon incident

Alpine team principal Bruno Famin has publicly declared Esteban Ocon will have to face the music for his move on team-mate Pierre Gasly on the first lap of the Monaco Grand Prix.

The French squad's boss was angered by Ocon slipping up the inside of Gasly at Portier, just before the entrance to the tunnel, causing contact between the two. They were P10 and P11 at the time.

After pushing his team-mate wide and leaving him with nowhere to go, Ocon tripped up on the front wing of the no.10 Alpine, launching his own car into the air. It was an error that led to Ocon's retirement with extensive damage to the floor and gearbox.

Whilst his team-mate went on to secure his first point of the season, finishing in P10 and doubling Alpine's account for the year, Ocon's actions put that result in jeopardy - something Famin was furious about.

“This kind of incident is sad,” he said on Canal+ during the race. “This is exactly what we didn’t want to see. Esteban’s attack was completely out of circumstance... We will draw the consequences. We’re going to decide whilst it's still raw."

'It was not the place to attempt an attack'

The red flag triggered moments after the incident for the crash between Sergio Perez and the two Haas', but despite the stoppage of almost 45 minutes, the damage to Ocon's car was too severe to fix, preventing him from being able to make the restart.

The stewards judged the 27-year-old to be at fault, and awarded him a 10 second time penalty. However, as he was already out of the race, it has been converted to a five-place grid drop at the next event - the Canadian Grand Prix. The Frenchman also received two penalty points on his FIA super licence.

Furthermore, Ocon's dive up the inside and its aftermath left Gasly vulnerable to those behind, as Ocon could have been a buffer for the team once the race got back underway.

“If we were fighting for a podium at the end of the race, why not, and again... But there, in the first lap, at Le Portier, frankly, it was not the place to attempt an attack, leaving zero room for your team-mate," Famin said.

Ocon took to social media during the grand prix to take responsibility for the accident, but further consequences loom. The extent to those actions remains to be seen, but he might consider himself fortunate that the chasing pack could not supplant Gasly in the top 10.