Esteban Ocon after the Japanese Grand Prix: « We took a step back today
The race could have ended prematurely in a double retirement for Alpine after a collision between Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly during the restart.
Starting 15th for the Japanese Grand Prix, Esteban Ocon once again managed to qualify for Q2 on Saturday, unlike his teammate Pierre Gasly. Almost a feat for the Frenchman, considering the car he has to drive. However, he couldn’t improve his position during the race on Sunday and finished in 15th place.
That could have ended prematurely in a double retirement for Alpine: after the second start in Suzuka, following the red flag caused by the accident of Daniel Ricciardo and Alex Albon, it was the two French drivers who collided. The race of the two Alpines thus almost turned into a fiasco as they approached the first corner, after Gasly quickly overtook Nico Hülkenberg. He then moved back to the left of the track to position himself for the right turn, but he collided with Ocon, whose tire hit the side of his teammate’s car. “Pierre hit me on the side, tell me if it’s okay,” exclaimed Ocon on the radio, clearly unhappy.
Later, as the race progressed and the Alpine team still struggled to catch up with its competitors and keep its pursuers behind them, Ocon’s race engineer urged him: “We must push now, please, push now.” This only served to further irritate the Alpine driver, as it is one of the worst cars on the grid this season. “I am pushing, what are you talking about!” he replied sharply, as he was unable to compete with the Haas of Hülkenberg ahead of him.
« Today it was not enough »
Another tense weekend for the French team which is struggling this season. The beginning of the race damaged our car, but it didn’t change the course’s image, expressed Esteban Ocon on Canal +. We tried more aggressive strategies, but we weren’t fast enough to keep them behind us. It was a good test for the car on this track. We improved in qualifying, but in the race, we didn’t manage to achieve our goal. There is still work to be done. I always try to give my best, but we had many laps and we degraded a lot.
Esteban Ocon was really not satisfied with his race, even though he has achieved good performances at Suzuka in the past. “I have already finished in the top 5 here, but today it was not enough. We have to see the progress we can make. I think we took a step back today. We have to keep working hard,” he concluded.
