Alpine Formula 1 team principal Oliver Oakes acknowledged the late timing of swapping Esteban Ocon for Jack Doohan was "not perfect" but parried criticism on the "straightforward" decision itself.
Over the Qatar Grand Prix weekend, Alpine decided it was only going to release 2025 Haas signing Ocon to his new team for Abu Dhabi's winter test on the condition that Ocon ceded his spot to his replacement Jack Doohan in what would have been his final race for Alpine.
That quid pro quo was understood to be a last-minute call initiated by Alpine advisor Flavio Briatore after Ocon's release for next Tuesday's test had already been agreed with Haas for some weeks.
On Monday it was confirmed Ocon had agreed to step down, a decision which caused some friction because the Frenchman had already planned a special tribute helmet to say farewell to the Enstone team he raced with for five seasons, taking to social media to say his premature exit was "not how I wanted things to end".
Speaking to Autosport in Abu Dhabi, team boss Oakes admitted the timing of the driver swap was far from ideal, but he insisted the move is still the right call for all parties involved as both Doohan and Ocon can get a head start on their 2025 programme.
"Nothing's perfect in F1 and from both sides that could have all been sorted out earlier, but that's not how everyone works," Oakes admitted. "We have to do what's right for the team.
"Where I get a bit frustrated with it is that everyone's coming up with their different theories. But for me, it's straightforward. He wanted to do the test with his new team. No worries, thank you. You've been really good with us, and we really appreciate everything you've done for us.
"It's in our interest to get Jack in the car much earlier. That's a win for us. A lot of people have made a lot more out of that than they needed to."
Oakes said the cameos made by other young drivers over the season, including Haas' impressive Oliver Bearman, shows the huge upside of giving Doohan an earlier grand prix debut, with the Australian having only undertaken FP1 and private testing outings thus far.
"I think you've seen this year the benefit of getting rookies into the car earlier," he said. "Two or three of those teams we're going to be fighting with next year [have done so], so we have to really do what's right for us. It's quite simple. For us, it's a real advantage to get Jack in the car earlier."
Alpine is only five points ahead of Haas in the standings ahead of this weekend's season finale, and while Oakes is not suggesting the 28-year-old would do anything untoward to benefit his future employer, for the team it is better to be safe than sorry.
Ocon has struggled for pace compared to team-mate Pierre Gasly in recent races, so the team felt putting Doohan in for Abu Dhabi would not necessarily affect the team's scoring potential as it battles both Haas and RB for sixth.
"We are fighting the team Esteban is going to for P6, so there's an element of sanity check in that as well," he acknowledged. "I think [looking at] the last few weekends, it wouldn't be wrong to say there's not a big risk there in switching Jack and Esteban with the sort of results as well.
"Whether he's checked out already or whether the [latest] upgrade just didn't suit him, who knows. From my point of view he's obviously a good driver and he delivered a strong result in Brazil.
"I think Pierre had the legs on him a little bit with the upgrades. But that's normal, we see that up and down the grid. From my side he's definitely a good driver.
"He's definitely going to be a thorn in our side next year, because Haas is having a good season as well. So, I wish him well."
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