F1 – Alpine: Esteban Ocon’s ordeal
Things are not going as planned for Alpine this season. Very ambitious before the Bahrain GP, the first race of the year, the French team has since lowered its ambitions. Symbol of this descent into hell, the recurring abandonments of Esteban Ocon, far too often the victim of problems with his car.
Nothing predestined such an ordeal for Alpine before the start of the season. Rightly ambitious after positioning itself as the fourth force on the grid in 2022, the French team quickly fell back to earth. If Pierre Gasly is not the luckiest, Esteban Ocon has even more bad luck than his counterpart. The winner of the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix increases the number of abandonments this season.
F1: Verstappen smashes Mercedes again https://t.co/ShZqMk15Q7 pic.twitter.com/2BMet17wtM
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Already six withdrawals for Ocon
Esteban Ocon is the unluckiest driver on the grid this season. In 16 races contested this season, the Frenchman has only finished 10. The other times, he had to abandon following mechanical problems or an unfortunate accident with his teammate in Australia. The native of Evreux at least had the pleasure of tasting the podium at Monaco and luckily for him… Ocon is now in 12th place in the world championship before the GP you Qatar, a record far too famished for a pilot of his caliber. Nothing can now save a season that he necessarily considers disappointing.
“We are falling short of the expectations we set for ourselves”
« At the start of the season, there were already a lot of changes, and after six months, we see things changing again. We haven’t hidden it since the start of the season, it’s true that there was a lack of results, I think we were all disappointed. Since the changes, I must say that there is definitely a positive momentum. We had some very good weekends, but it’s true that we fell short of the expectations we had set for ourselves. The car can perform well on certain circuits but is less good on other, faster circuits. It cost us this year. We had races where we were competitive and where we were able to seize opportunities, and others where we were a little less good, with some problems “, confessed Esteban Ocon. Not easy for him this season with Alpine…
