Esteban Ocon falls well short in Japan
The Frenchman was a long way behind in terms of performance compared to what he produced in China. His team-mate put in a much better performance at Suzuka.
Rollercoaster. At the start of this season, the performances of Haas and Esteban Ocon have been inconsistent. Poor in Australia. Excellent in China. And poor again in Suzuka. A true mystery, this car. Especially since his teammate, Oliver Bearman, managed to reach the points zone in Suzuka, thanks to a tenth place finish.
Questions arise both about the equipment provided to the two drivers and the strategy implemented. But more importantly, is Esteban Ocon able to fully exploit this car? Because as mentioned earlier, the French driver is capable of getting the best out of this car, as he did in China.
The objective was to get a safety car while we were starting with hard tires – we didn’t have much to lose by trying this strategy – and we still managed to get a good start. Unfortunately, without a safety car, it wasn’t the best strategy and we knew it, we did our best, but it allowed us to gather more data and more information for comparison for the next race. The important thing is to transfer the good performances we saw on Ollie’s car, stated the Norman.
If the Tricolore remains the team’s number 1 driver today, he will need to continue progressing and pushing because his teammate, who has nothing to lose, might well steal that role. His decision to leave Alpine is currently, according to a financial assessment, a good one, but again, the work will have to be consistent and significant to maintain this level.
