In Picture: Esteban Ocon and Flavio Briatore. (from Left) Credit: Getty Images
Renowned F1 insider Joe Saward reported this week about a key detail regarding Esteban Ocon's premature departure from the Alpine F1 team. According to Saward, the French driver decided to part ways with the French team ahead of the upcoming Abu Dhabi Grand Prix because he did not want to work with Flavio Briatore, who is infamous for his involvement with the controversial Crashgate scandal.
Renault boss Luca De Meo recently decided to bring in Briatore as the executive advisor for the Enstone-based team. His appointment raised eyebrows given the latter's direct involvement in the 2008 Crashgate scandal. Briatore was instrumental in asking Nelson Piquet Jr. to crash deliberately in the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix and make his then-teammate Fernando Alonso win the race.
Years down the line, De Meo has decided to bring in Briatore for the same team, which now runs under a different name. As per Saward, Briatore's involvement is one reason why Esteban Ocon agreed to move out of Alpine with one race to go before the season concludes. On his eponymous blog, Saward wrote,
