Pierre Gasly: Esteban Ocon fallout is "difficult to explain" after their friendship “fell apart”

Pierre Gasly has opened up about his rivalry with fellow French Formula 1 driver Esteban Ocon.

The two drivers grew up together and were previously very close, but the Alpine driver explained that there was a turning point in their relationship that they have not been able to recover from.

"We could make a full documentary about this," he told F1.com. "We used to spend Wednesdays and weekends together pretty much every week, him going to my place, me going to his place.

"We had a strong bond. Sadly, there was a turning point in one of the races; it sort of fell apart after that in a dramatic way, which is difficult to explain.

"We know exactly where we come from. We know what we had to go through to make it. We also both know it was actually a good thing that we had that rivalry to push us beyond our potential."

While the drivers are still battling it out on track for the time being, Gasly is sure that they will be able to work things out in the future.

Esteban Ocon, Alpine, Pierre Gasly, Alpine

Photo by: Alpine

"I have no doubt that in 10, 20 years we'll be able to talk things out and talk things through in a different way."

The two drivers were team-mates at Alpine in 2023 and 2024 before Ocon moved to Haas for 2025, and they were able to push their differences aside when they scored a double podium for the French outfit at the 2024 Brazilian Grand Prix.

"In the space of eight months, we went from last to getting not one but two cars on the podium," Gasly added of the double podium at Interlagos.

"The faces on the team were priceless. It was one of those races where I'm sure post-career, I’ll pinpoint it as very special."