Esteban Ocon: “Every time we bring an update, the car seems to improve, it’s encouraging.”
Started 15th and finished 8th in the Spa Grand Prix, Esteban Ocon is satisfied with the progress made by Alpine during this Belgian Grand Prix weekend.
It’s a beautiful comeback that Esteban Ocon offered us during the Belgian Grand Prix this Sunday. While the Frenchman started far behind, in 15th position, he managed to make some great overtakes, eventually reaching 8th place. A performance that Ocon is particularly proud of, after two weekends of double retirements for Alpine at Silverstone and Hungary.
“I am happy that we saved our weekend in the rain. Friday and Saturday didn’t go as planned, but in the end, we sorted everything out. With this race, we were able to show the true pace of the car and how it performed,” said the driver to the journalists after the race.
He also clearly had a lot of fun during these 44 laps at Spa: “I had some great battles, a lot of fun: Lance (Stroll), Pierre (Gasly), Yuki (Tsunoda)… All these guys, it was really great battles. Alex (Albon) too, I overtook him on the outside of turn 12,” he said.
Noticeable changes on the track
However, he regrets the changing weather conditions throughout the weekend, which unfortunately penalized him, according to him. “And what if the rest of the weekend had been dry? I think we clearly had the pace for the rest, but it’s really encouraging that every time we bring an update, the car seems to improve. I clearly dedicate this victory to Viry and Enstone (the Alpine factories) because it’s really encouraging to see what we’re bringing to the track,” he notes.
Today, Esteban Ocon clearly felt these changes, he insists: “The pace we had today, in corners, especially at medium and high speeds, with so little aerodynamic grip, it was quite impressive. The car was noticeably more stable, with much more grip, it was really noticeable”.
The Frenchman hopes that the team will continue to improve in this way during the “back-to-school” race in late August at Zandvoort. “Some people would say that we lack consistency, which is not really the case because the pace is what it is and now we can catch up, but we are not in the top 5. We simply need to improve further, continue to bring updates. Yesterday’s day will be remembered, I hope this announces good things to come,” he concludes.
