“We saved our weekend,” Esteban Ocon rejoices his amazing performance at the Belgian GP amidst a tough atmosphere at Alpine

Esteban Ocon looks back at his Belgian GP performance amidst a tough atmosphere within the team.

“We saved our weekend,” Esteban Ocon rejoices his amazing performance at the Belgian GP amidst a tough atmosphere at Alpine

Esteban Ocon (Via Alpine F1 team)

Esteban Ocon and Alpine F1 team haven’t had the best start to the season that they had planned initially. A year ago, around this time, Fernando Alonso had left the team to join Aston Martin which also led to the whole Oscar Piastri and McLaren saga. In the end, Alpine got Pierre Gasly as their driver for 2023 as he was paired with Ocon for this season. The team has been known for not having a proper leadership structure ever since Cyril was sacked.

The drama didn’t stop there as team principal Otmar Szafnauer and long-serving Sporting Director Alan Permane were fired from the team. The Belgian GP was their last race as a part of the Enstone based squad. Chief Technical Officer Pat Fry was also announced as the next person who is leaving. Pat got a role with Williams racing. With such distractions off track, it was crucial that Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly would have to do something to change the team’s atmosphere. 

https://youtu.be/FIRRX0M2ngw

Esteban Ocon went on to finish in 8th place at the Belgian GP during a tough week. Here is what he had to say in an interview regarding the same. “[I’m] glad we saved our weekend in a way,” he said. “Friday, Saturday didn’t go to plan, we didn’t put everything together.But clearly that race, we could show the real pace of the car, and how it was working, and yeah, had some really good battles out there,” he stated. 

FS Video

Related: Helmut Marko asks Sergio Perez to ‘forget the World Championship dream’ amidst uncertainty over the Mexican’s Red Bull future

Esteban Ocon and Alpine have a long way to go to achieve stability 

Esteban Ocon (Via Alpine F1 team)
Esteban Ocon (Via Alpine F1 team)

Esteban Ocon somehow managed to finish 8th and bring some crucial points for the team. Amidst the whole drama, F1 engine chief Bruno Famin promoted to vice president of Alpine Motorsports andLaurent Rossi was replaced as Alpine CEO by Philippe Krief. Amidst this whole silly season at Alpine, it becomes clear that there is lack of stability within the team. 

With the Summer break in full force, Alpine have a lot to worry about for the remainder of the season. Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly are 10th and 12th respectively in the driver’s standings. When it comes to the team standings, they’re far away from their goal as they sit in 6th place. It’s going to be interesting to see what they’re able to do in the remaining half of the year. 

In case you missed it: