“To the extent that it can be negative” – Esteban Ocon calls Fernando Alonso “an animal” over the Spaniard’s aggressive driving style
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Esteban Ocon called his teammate Fernando Alonso "an animal" regarding his aggressive driving style
Esteban Ocon is a French Formula 1 driver racing for the Alpine F1 team. Ocon showcased his talent at half a season for the now-defunct Manor Racing in 2016 and was signed by Force India for the following year. At team Silverstone, Esteban came to be known as an aggressive but quick driver. The 26-year-old was forced to sit on the sidelines in 2019 after being dropped by Racing Point (Force India) but he has made his mark since his return in 2020 with the French team.
Alpine signed Fernando Alonso for 2021 after the departure of Daniel Ricciardo at the end of 2020. The Spaniard was seen to be a tough challenge for Ocon due to his vast experience and achievements in F1. But the two have seemed to form a healthy teammate relationship, with the team even grabbing its first victory since 2013 (then Lotus-Renault) at the Hungarian Grand Prix in 2021.
The two drivers have so far worked together for the team, the most famous examples being Alonso’s incredible defense against Lewis Hamilton at the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix, allowing Ocon to win his first race in Formula 1. Alonso’s “Tell Esteban to defend like a lion,” on team radio too is another example, where, at the Qatar Grand Prix in 2021, the Spaniard was able to get his first podium since 2015 after some help from his French teammate.
Esteban Ocon appreciates his teammate’s ability to race to the fullest
Speaking in an interview with The Race, Ocon mentioned, “He’s not an unusual driver, but he is always pushing things to the extreme,” referring to the Spaniard’s more spontaneous driving style of driving F1 cars. Esteban talked about Alonso’s way of driving could go too extreme for his liking thus he differs from the Spaniard according to his preferences and does not blankly replicate his teammate. The French driver elaborated, “So if one thing works, he is going to go completely in that direction, but to the extent that it can be negative, so I don’t copy/paste everything that he does, nowhere near that.”
The 22-year-old also discussed the good relationship between the two sides of the garage, which allows for the transparent sharing of information and data. Esteban Ocon also spoke about the transparency allowing both the drivers to replicate each other’s stronger sections on the track by change of set-up or driving in a similar manner across a particular corner, the Frenchman described, “when I get a good corner, he’s looking at it and trying things and if he gets a good corner with something very unusual on the set-up of the car, what he does with the tools on the steering wheel, I will inspire myself from it. That’s normal.”
Esteban finally called Alonso an animal in relation to his way of giving everything in a race, he stated, “But calling him an animal in races is the right description because he’s going 300% to the extreme most of the time.” A nod of respect to Fernando as we have always seen the two-time world champion push to his fullest in order to get the most out of the car even on bad days.
Thus, it is evident that in the two seasons together Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso have had a pleasant relationship as teammates, despite a few hiccups such as the 2022 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Both drivers have supported each other in the best interests of the team which has enabled Alpine to currently stand at P4 in the constructors’ championship. With Alonso moving to Aston Martin next year, the pair will be looking to end their time together on a high note in the last two races of the year.
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