Disillusioned Ocon began Haas talks in 2023

Esteban Ocon has confirmed that he decided to leave Alpine "a long time ago".

On Thursday at Spa, after a long period of rumours linking the departing Alpine driver with Haas, the new multi-year contract for the Frenchman was finally revealed.

"The decision was made for me a long time ago," the 27-year-old admitted to reporters. "Five years with the same team is a long time in Formula 1.

Ocon indicated that both he and Alpine are happy to part ways.

"We achieved good things and we experienced things were a bit more difficult from time to time," he said diplomatically.

"This season has certainly been frustrating. That’s no secret. It’s not new either," Ocon explained.

"We have not done a good job with technical development. As a result, the current car has the same problems as three years ago. This is unacceptable in Formula 1," he added.

Indeed, Alpine and Renault are currently weighing up scrapping the works engine program altogether and switching to Mercedes customer power - as soon as 2025.

It’s even rumoured that the Belgian GP will be Bruno Famin’s last as team principal, with Hitech founder Oliver Oakes linked with the ongoing role.

Ocon sounds very happy to be moving on.

"The talks with Haas started quite a long time ago, already halfway through the 2023 season," he said.

Ocon worked with team boss Ayao Komatsu a decade ago at Lotus when the Japanese was a race engineer, and said he has already been made to feel "loved and wanted".

"When we sat down for the first time, he told me about his plans for the future, which are very clear," he said. "So the aim is clear, but still modest and realistic, which I like.

"The way to improve has already been laid, and as we can see, the process has already begun."