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F1 Team Alpine knew that their driver, Esteban Ocon, was a free agent going into next season, but the team only found out he was being courted by Williams after they tracked his company car to their rival’s parking lot.

Last month, Alpine confirmed that they would be parting ways with the French driver after five years together, and while he was said to join Haas alongside rookie Oliver Bearman, his five-hour visit to Williams gave away his real intentions.

Alpine executive director Marcin Budkowski explained how the team found out:

“Ocon was in Enstone before the Silverstone race and when he’s there, he drives an Alpine that was lent to him as a company car.”

“But these cars have trackers, the GPS. So it turned out that his Alpine car was parked in Williams’ parking lot for five hours during Esteban’s stay in Great Britain, and this is how everyone at Alpine found out that Esteban spent half a day there.”

“I don’t think [he was aware]. But let’s face it, the team didn’t extend his contract so Esteban can talk to the other teams. It’s just a funny situation that it got out like that.”

Getting busted by his own team forced Williams team principal James Vowles to publicly confirm they met with the driver, although just to see if he ‘fit’.

“Esteban came in for, not a real seat fit, but I wanted to evaluate him for 2025 and 2026.”

“I needed to do that because I need to actually ascertain whether he fit in the car or not. Because he’s, as is Alex, a tall chap, but his dimensions are a bit difficult in certain dimensions.”

Still, it must have been a bit of a Cheaters moment for Alpine.

The 2024 F1 season is proving to be as drama-filled off the track as on it. At least Hamilton managed to bounce back by winning the Belgium Grand Prix, albeit after his teammate George Russell was disqualified when it was found his car was too light.