Ocon hopes Alpine can score points: "It's going in the right direction"
F1 News
Esteban Ocon has struggled in his Alpine A524 this year, as the Frenchman is yet to score a point in 2024. The Enstone-based team currently sit in 10th in the constructors championship and is considered by many to be the slowest car on the grid. Despite this, upgrades are on the horizon. Will it change Alpine's fortunes?
Esteban Ocon, who won the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix with Alpine, has witnessed his team fall from grace. Alpine finished fourth in 2022, sixth in 2023 and now sits 10th in 2024 after five races. The French outfit still has 19 races to rescue their season, and Esteban Ocon believes that the team must continue making progress every race.
Speaking to the media in the paddock after finishing P11 at the Chinese Grand Prix, Ocon said: "It's our best finish of the year, but we need to be careful what we read into. There were many things happening and a lot of contenders were at the back, So that's the other thing that we need to be careful of. But at the same time, I feel like it's been a very strong weekend on the operational side and on my side driving. And I've been happy with that. So we keep going."
Ocon remains realistic, as Both VCARBs retired from the race, alongside Valterri Bottas' Kick Sauber. Three of Alpine's competitors this year in the tight midfield battle.
Alpine working hard to save their season
Bruno Famin's team have been working hard at the factory, as Ocon told the media one update is ahead of schedule. Despite this, he remains down to earth.
"I think we have brought one upgrade early. I think in Miami, we are going to have mainly the same things. I don't know if I'm wrong, but I think probably that's going to be the case. And then we're going to try and push forward as many things as we can for later," he added.
Ocon Looking ahead to Miami
"I enjoy the weekend overall. If you go offline, it's very, very slippery And I think the FIA have solved that. Infield, we had a big crash in 2022. I think it's quite nice now, and a lot less dangerous because it was a big shunt that I had with 51G. So Carlos and I, we really hurt ourselves. I hope that we can race well there."
Esteban Ocon finished eighth in the inaugural Miami GP in 2022 but crashed heavily in practice into a concrete barrier sideways. The impact was around 51G. In 2023, Ocon scored points again, finishing ninth. The Frenchman will be hoping to finish in the points in Miami for the third consecutive time, although this will be much more of a challenge than the previous years.