Esteban Ocon keeps high hopes as Alpine looks forward to racing in Baku, claims the team has “good ideas on how to advance”
Esteban Ocon and Alpine are confident that planned upgrades will help them improve their pace.
Follow Us
Esteban Ocon's Alpine (Credits: F1i.com)
Alpine driver Esteban Ocon remains optimistic about the team’s chances as they head to Baku for the fourth race of the 2023 Formula One season. Alpine has had a slow start to the season, but Ocon assures that there are plans in the pipeline to improve the car’s performance.
In the season’s first three races, Alpine has struggled to keep up with the front runners, finishing as the fifth-fastest team on race day. They had a mediocre first two races but had a great chance of bagging double points in Australia until the crash. Despite the disappointing result, Ocon remains positive and believes Alpine can improve its pace with strong upgrade packages in the line. “I saw good ideas on how we can advance the car,” he said.
Alpine’s hopes of making a great start to the season were dashed in Australia when Esteban Ocon and teammate Pierre Gasly crashed on the restart lap. The incident robbed the squad of the opportunity to earn double digit points and placed them on the back foot early in the season. “We talked about it. Everything is fine. There are no grudges,” Ocon said of the incident.
Discover: F1 legend puts Fernando Alonso in the same bracket as two tennis ‘GOATs’
Alpine’s Ocon is confident in the team’s next upgrade plan to boost performance and compete with the leaders
Last year, Alpine followed an aggressive and successful upgrade plan that helped them secure fourth place in the championship. Ocon has assured that the team has plans in the pipeline to improve their performance this year as well. “We have to believe that it’s possible. Otherwise, we don’t need to drive at all.”
Ocon also noted that this year’s car is different from last year’s, and Alpine is still working on improving its performance. “Last year I practically drove a kart race with Lando Norris in Jeddah. We passed each other back and forth. That wasn’t possible this time,” Ocon said. “We’ll have to wait and see how it develops over the season.”
Mclaren has surpassed Alpine in the rankings as a result of the collision at Albert Park, in which both Alpines collided. Given how infrequently this will occur, Alpine has a healthy chance of taking P5, but with the Woking team putting in big upgrades, it might be a close race. Despite their sluggish start, Alpine and Ocon remain confident in their ability to improve their performance and move up the standings.
In case you missed it:
Stay Updated!
Rohit Bhaskar
(727 Articles Published)