Esteban Ocon has hinted that he's eager to move on from his time at Alpine, as the struggles with the team have taken away much of the "fun" of competing in Formula 1.
Last weekend's race in Baku summed up the Renault-owned team's crisis in 2024, with Ocon facing not only a lack of speed but also numerous technical issues throughout the weekend.
"We had so many problems," said Ocon, who is set to join Haas next season, while speaking in Singapore.
"We could hardly drive. It was tough at Monza as well."
"We're working on building confidence here, logging laps and improving the car step by step, but it's not even about performance anymore. We've been dealing with different problems all the time," he added.
The official narrative is that the split between Alpine and Ocon was mutually agreed, but rumours suggest either the team grew frustrated with the 28-year-old's driving style and lack of team play, or Ocon simply couldn't face another season with the Enstone-based outfit.
"It hasn't been a fun season for anyone here so far," Ocon admitted on Thursday. "I haven't enjoyed driving for a while now. I want to close this chapter on a good note, but ninth place is probably what we deserve right now."
"We're doing everything we can to turn things around, but it's very tough when the other teams are making progress. It's not easy, but I won't give up.
"Unfortunately, the end of this story is quite sad. I didn't want to end it like this, but I'm doing my best for this brand that has been very special to me for so many years. I'll stay focused until the end, of course, but I'll also look at what they're doing at Haas. They're making very good progress," he noted.
While some believe Haas might have been Ocon's only option for 2025 and beyond, he had a seat fitting at Williams this season and even turned down an offer from Audi-owned Sauber.
Speaking about Haas' new team boss Ayao Komatsu, Ocon explained: "Obviously I have a very long history with Ayao, who was my first race engineer in Formula 1, and he convinced me of his plan on where they want to head to."
