Esteban Ocon, F1 driver

The Frenchman was granted Alpine's new floor upgrade initially pencilled in for Miami, as one undertray construction was fast-tracked in time for the Chinese Grand Prix.This new floor features changes to the diffuser, heavily revised front fences, and a new floor edge wing that features a slot towards the rear.Although these changes should yield an uptick in performance, Ocon stated that the ...

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While the pace of the Frenchman and team-mate Pierre Gasly was impacted by damage picked up following an opening-lap clash, Ocon does not think that should be an excuse for an overall lack of performance.While both drivers were left facing a downforce deficit – with Gasly said to have lost around 33 points compared to Ocon’s 15 – the slump down the order was not solely caused by ...

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The pair touched at the restart following the early red flag, with Gasly losing what the team later estimated as around 33 points of downforce, which equates to a potential lap time impact of up to 0.7-0.9 seconds.Ocon also suffered some damage, and thereafter both drivers had an even trickier race than they had anticipated with the difficult A524, eventually finishing 15th and 16th, with Gasly ...

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Ocon had made his first tyre change on lap 9 just before the tear-off became lodged in a brake duct of his Alpine A524, triggering overheating.At the time, he was in a fight with Kevin Magnussen, Alex Albon and Nico Hulkenberg, with both Haas drivers eventually finishing in the points. However, the brake temperature issue obliged Ocon to make a second stop just seven laps after his first.It ...

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The French team slipped down F1's pecking order in its transition to its new A524 chassis, and has failed to recapture its regular position in challenging for points from last season as the early-spec car has lacked outright pace.This has coincided with a wider performance gap between the top five teams and the bottom five, effectively leaving the drivers in the latter group having to wait for ...

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A soft-spoken and affable character away from the action, Ocon has built up a rather different reputation among his peers once he gets down to business.The 27-year-old is known for his straightforward, no-nonsense and no-compromise attitude, whether he is dealing with team-mates, team bosses or his battling his rivals.Having now entered his eighth season, that approach has helped him make it to F1 ...

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The opening two rounds of the season in Bahrain and Jeddah confirmed what pre-season testing had suggested, as Alpine struggled at the back of the field with the slowest car.In the latter race, from 17th on the grid, Ocon passed Sauber's Valtteri Bottas at the start and, after the safety car period, he ran in the group delayed by Kevin Magnussen, which also included Yuki Tsunoda and Alex ...

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Friday night's Bahrain Grand Prix qualifying confirmed Alpine's fears over starting the year on the back foot following a late car concept change this winter.The Enstone team's fortunes are not expected to change dramatically until it can bring upgrades to its A524's base design, which could take five to six races.It means both Frenchmen await the unenviable task of keeping morale up at the ...

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The French manufacturer is coming off the back of a challenging first test in Bahrain last week where the new A524 showed itself to be lacking in both handling and pace terms against the opposition.While the team has been open about bracing itself for a tough start, some analysis from the testing data pointed to Alpine actually being slowest of all with how its current car is.Asked ahead of the ...

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Ocon is out of contract at Alpine at the end of this season. He was signed by the Mercedes junior programme during his 2015 title-winning GP3 Series campaign and given his relationship with the team’s boss Toto Wolff, he is seen as a candidate to replace Hamilton.Addressing the speculation for the first time, Ocon said he had always maintained “strong links” to Mercedes but stressed that he ...

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The Frenchman also insists that he will switch to “war mode” next year with an even greater focus on his racing and fewer distractions out of the cockpit.Highlights of Ocon’s year were starting and finishing third in Monaco, and earning fourth place in Las Vegas from 16th on the grid.However, he also suffered a series of non-finishes during the season, several of them after contact with ...

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Abu Dhabi's one-day test is a combined exercise to hand Pirelli extra tyre data while also providing a chance for rookie drivers to gather valuable miles. All teams ran two cars, one for each assignment.Russell caused the most notable incident by crashing in Turn 6 four hours into the session, after a suspected technical failure punted the Mercedes driver into the barriers.The incident, which ...

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The Enstone outfit has suffered from inconsistent form this year, with a strong race in Las Vegas – where Ocon finished fourth – followed by a disappointing weekend at the Yas Marina track that saw both cars outside the points.Ocon says that going straight into a test at a venue where the team struggled will help the team learn some lessons, with reserve driver Jack Doohan also providing input ...

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The Frenchman pulled off an impressive charge from 16th on the grid in Las Vegas to finish fourth on Saturday in what was one of his best race performances of the year. But it was not without some intrigue after television footage showed him making an overtake on Alpine team-mate Pierre Gasly just moments after he had received a radio message from the pitwall telling him to ‘hold ...

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Verstappen and Ocon were part of a gaggle of drivers that backed up at the end of the main straight as they prepared to start their final laps of the session.Keen to get a clear lap and worried about complying with the FIA's minimum delta requirements, Ocon passed Yuki Tsunoda, Zhou Guanyu and his own team-mate Pierre Gasly before blasting by Verstappen just before the start of the lap.A clearly ...

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The Aston Martin driver was unable to take part in the second part of the shootout that determines the grid for the shortened Saturday race after sustaining heavy damage to the front-left corner.As the Spaniard slowly proceeded through Turn 2, former Alpine team-mate Esteban Ocon was forced to correct a slide and the subsequent change of direction sent him careering into the Aston.While Alonso ...

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Ocon was losing ground on his fading soft tyres when Hulkenberg tried to pass him on the exit of Turn 1, and Perez in turn drew alongside the Haas as they approached the Turn 2 left-hander.With Ocon on the inside, Hulkenberg was caught in a sandwich between the two cars. After contact from the Haas, Ocon was sent spinning across Hulkenberg's bows and into Perez's Red Bull.Perez and Ocon ended ...

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Alpine targeted retaining fourth in the 2023 constructors' standings while closing the gap to Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes. However, it has fallen to sixth behind Aston Martin and McLaren.Team boss Otmar Szafnauer and long-time sporting director Alan Permane then departed, reportedly having disagreed with Renault's top brass over how soon success could be delivered.Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi was ...

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In the final stages of last weekend's Japanese Grand Prix, Gasly was asked to let Ocon by to repay the favour from earlier in the race, as the pair ran ninth and 10th.He initially refused to comply and only let Ocon through on the last corner of the final lap after repeated pleas by his race engineer.Gasly reacted furiously because he felt he was the quicker car on the day and was always going to ...

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Gasly was asked to move aside and let team-mate Ocon through to take ninth place on the last lap at Suzuka, having earlier been gifted the position in a team order swap.At that stage of the race, Gasly was on fresher rubber and Alpine believed that if he was let through by Ocon he would have a chance to close in on the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso who was ahead of them on the track.When it ...

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In the final stages of the Suzuka race, Gasly was asked to let Ocon by as the pair was set to finish ninth and 10th.Gasly angrily protested on the radio but eventually relented by letting his team-mate by at the very last possible moment, in the third sector of the final lap.Gasly was asked to let Ocon by to return the favour from earlier in the race, when Gasly passed Ocon but then failed to ...

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The French duo have been evenly matched in their first season as team-mates at Alpine, but amid a season where the Enstone outfit expected to consolidate on its fourth-place finish in last year's constructors' championship.Gasly admitted the season had not lived up to expectations in that regard, and added that he was not able to feel entirely at ease with the overall balance of the car.Asked ...

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Early in Q1, Ocon passed Norris before the Ascari chicane, and Norris then re-passed heading in Parabolica just before he started a hot lap, with the Alpine driver appearing to jink towards the McLaren as the pair turned in.After completing the lap, as he was heading back to the pits, Norris told his team “what the Alpine driver did was very dangerous, by the way”.After the session Norris ...

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The Frenchman claimed after the race that the wet compound was "not the right tyre at any moment" and that if conditions were right for it, a red flag would probably result, which is exactly what happened.Ocon eventually claimed a point for 10th place on a day when team-mate Pierre Gasly gave the Enstone outfit a boost by finishing third, but he remained convinced that he could have done ...

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Despite setting a pre-season target to retain fourth place in the 2023 constructors’ championship while closing the gap to Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes, the Enstone team has fallen to sixth behind midfield rivals McLaren and Aston Martin come the summer break.Given the drop off, Alpine owner Renault Group has sought to replace company CEO Laurent Rossi while allowing team principal Otmar ...

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