Ocon: “I haven’t been enjoying driving for a while now”

His victory at the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix and his podium in Monaco last year seem like distant memories. The Normandy native recently revealed that he no longer enjoys driving the Alpine, evidence of the struggles the Enstone team is facing, especially this year with many changes in personnel and a car that started the year as the slowest on the grid, with a weight above the regulatory norm. However, the developments made throughout the season had given a new impetus to the team, which had finished in the points in four consecutive races between Monaco and Austria, with both cars even in the top 10 in Montreal and Spain. A confidence that seemed to have been regained, but has dissipated since the return from the summer break, especially for Esteban Ocon.

A catastrophic weekend in Baku.

The Frenchman has still not tasted any points since his fantastic ninth place in Spa before the break. Worse, last weekend in Baku, he experienced a real nightmare with multiple issues encountered during free practice sessions, which sabotaged his weekend, depriving him of crucial running given the difficulty of the track. Unfortunately, the rest of the race didn’t help matters, as the former Force India driver hit the wall on his final qualifying lap, forcing him to start from the second-to-last place on the grid. In the race, he only finished fifteenth in an event marked by four retirements, after starting from the pit lane due to an engine change. Arriving in Singapore this week, the Normandian explained that all these problems did not allow him to have confidence in the car.

A collaboration ending that should not be spoiled

« It’s been tough,” he admitted. « The issues encountered during the trials meant that the weekend was completely ruined. So it was impossible to do things correctly. It was difficult in Monza too, for sure. [But here], I am not talking about performance, but simply trying to build and have confidence in the car from one session to the next. » “With only one top 10 in the last seven races, the Alpine driver is no longer able to enjoy driving the car, but still hopes to finish the season and especially his adventure with Alpine on a positive note.” « Even though it has been tough, I’m not giving up. I still want to finish this chapter with the team on a good note. It’s quite a sad ending, unfortunately. But I hope we can make up for it and finish in a better position for the rest of the season. »

A delay to catch up on Williams.

Due to their underperformance in Azerbaijan, the team with the letter A has just lost the eighth place in the Constructors’ Championship to Williams, who finished in seventh and eighth place. The Frenchman has indeed recognized the superiority of the Grove team for several Grand Prix, even though he has not given up hope of finishing ahead of them at the end of the season. “Williams is on a very steep trajectory on their side,” he said. “They have been very fast all season – probably faster than us most of the time. The whole team is doing its best to try to improve the situation, but it will be difficult to climb back up. We’re doing our best until the end of the year. We start this weekend trying to have a better one than Baku.”

The Normand hopes that the trend will reverse this weekend in Singapore, where the Alpine shone last year. Ocon was in the points during the race before retiring due to a gearbox issue. So that’s what we’re going to try to do here: build confidence, accumulate laps, and be able to improve the car step by step each time. But yes, the important thing is to try to maximize the results and have fun. Because it’s been quite a few races now that I haven’t had much fun behind the wheel. And that needs to change. The last seven Grand Prix are therefore crucial for the French team, which hopes to catch up with Williams and finish its adventure with Ocon on a positive note after five years of collaboration, the Frenchman having decided to join Haas in 2025.