In qualifying, Esteban Ocon has hardly seen any ground against his new Alpine teammate Pierre Gasly for some time now. Since the Grand Prix in Spielberg at the beginning of July, the newcomer has been clearly ahead in the internal qualifying duel with 8:2.
And in the race duel, Gasly has at least a 6:3 win since the Austrian GP. However, these statistics do not tell the whole story, as Ocon did not see the checkered flag three times in the last five races. In the other two runs he finished ahead of Gasly.
“There is no doubt about his performance level,” explains Alpine team boss Bruno Famin with regard to Ocon. He recalls: “In Austin he had [beim vergangenen Rennen] a very good start. He was ready to deliver a very good performance.”
“I have no doubt about it…”
He could have ended up there “perhaps even ahead of Pierre,” “depending on what the strategy would have been later,” said Famin. But after contact with McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, Ocon had to retire early instead. It was a “difficult” phase for him, said Famin.
But: “I have no doubt that Esteban will achieve some good results by the end of the season,” emphasizes the team boss and supports his driver. At the same time, there is also praise for newcomer Gasly.
“It’s his first season in the team, his first season outside the Red Bull environment,” recalls Famin and adds: “And I think he had to learn a lot about how the team works.” Gasly has now done that.
And the team has also improved its work with Gasly. A “better set-up” was found after the summer break, which is why Gasly is now achieving “better results”. In fact, the Frenchman scored points in three of the last four races.
Gasly and Ocon will also be in the cockpit in 2024
Overall, Alpine is now scoring better than before the summer break. While they only scored 57 points in the twelve races up to Belgium, they have already scored 43 in the six Grands Prix since then – and therefore significantly more on average.
But that is “still not enough,” says Famin, “because we are still not where we want to be,” he clarifies and reminds: “Last year we were fourth in the championship, today we are sixth and it There is no prospect of improving this position by the end of the year.”
Because Aston Martin in P5 has already collected 236 points, Alpine only 100. They won’t catch up by the end of the year. Famin is therefore calling for progress, but also explains that they have already become better at getting maximum performance from the car.
“But we still have a lot of work to do to really improve our level. That’s why we’re working hard to improve things in the factories and try to get the best out of our next car [für 2024] out,” says Famin.
Even then, Gasly and Ocon will be in the cockpit again. Because the drivers, Famin suggests, are not currently the problem at Alpine.