Esteban Ocon: “It’s a shame we can’t finish the season in style.”

Esteban Ocon finishes his season in 12th place in Abu Dhabi, after a rather dull weekend. Throughout the race, he did not gain any positions in the standings and finishes outside of the points. In line with his season and Alpine’s, he missed out on many things.

Qualifications: an improvement, but insufficient

Esteban Ocon has slightly recovered in qualifying in Abu Dhabi. After a failure in Q1 and a modest 17th time in Las Vegas, the Normand overcame this first obstacle in Abu Dhabi, thus obtaining the 14th time.

However, during Q2, difficulties caught up with Alpine’s driver. After six laps, Esteban Ocon could not hope for more than a 12th time, finishing just behind Lewis Hamilton and leaving his teammate alone to participate in Q3. Ultimately, Pierre Gasly will start 10th.

A bland race

Esteban Ocon’s race was not thrilling. Starting 12th, the French driver did not make a strong start. While his teammate had a good launch, Ocon had to settle for staying in the midfield. His race somewhat intensified on the 26th lap, when Lewis Hamilton made a mistake and ripped off Pierre Gasly’s car diffuser. Losing valuable tenths, Alpine changed their strategy in favor of Ocon.

Finally, it is the oldest driver in the French garage who has the advantage of stopping first. At the end of the race, Esteban Ocon finishes 12th, just ahead of Pierre Gasly. With this result, he remains four points behind his teammate. « This Grand Prix is a bit like the season », he announced on Canal +. « Unfortunately, we lacked performance. Overall, we didn’t manage to score with just one car. It’s not enough. It was complicated, that’s for sure. It’s a shame we can’t finish the season on a high note. »

Problems that mirror the season

Contrary to his teammate, Esteban Ocon was more saddened by Alpine’s season. After finishing 4th in the constructors’ championship in 2022, Alpine could only hope for a sixth position. The race situations did not often favor the blue team, and both cars were frequently plagued by reliability issues. The two drivers also suffered from a significant lack of performance and competitiveness from their Alpine. « I think there were many good things this season, but there were also many missed opportunities », explained the 27-year-old from Normandy. « I think an opportunity like Singapore, an opportunity like Austin, it cost me getting into the top 10 of the overall driver’s championship, so it costs us, for sure. It has been a season with many ups and downs. There are things to keep. There are things that we need to improve and, in any case, we know where to progress. »

However, despite the disappointment, the enthusiasm for 2024 has not changed. « I am clearly looking forward to it because spending the winter after a season like this is not ideal », he added. « I will prepare myself properly. Back to the 2022-style, ruthless competition. We will come back strong for 2024 and we will start working on the future car in December. »

Esteban Ocon finishes the 2023 season with a 12th place in the driver’s standings.