Esteban Ocon has warned his rivals about tougher competition in the 2022 season after improved pace under the technical changes.
The French team enjoyed some strong results in 2021. Esteban Ocon took his unexpected first win in F1 at the Hungarian GP.
His teammate Fernando Alonso also scored a podium later in the year at the Qatar GP after seven years. At the final race of the season, Ocon again came close to winning a podium before Valtteri Bottas overtook him just metres away from the chequered flag.
Now the French driver has warned that Alpine could be “dangerous” after the technical changes of the next season which will improve their pace.
He said, “I think [the team have made] huge progress. Everything we did inside the team, operationally, taking strategy decisions, looking after the tyres, looking after the car itself, and getting the maximum out of it.”
Ocon is very pleased with what the team has achieved in the 2021 season and believes that it has been huge progress.
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Esteban Ocon thinks that Alpine poses a potential threat
Given how the team performed throughout the year, Ocon believes that the French team could potentially pose a threat to their rivals in 2022.
“Of course, we got two podiums, almost three, this season for the team, with a car that didn’t perform as good as last year. I think we had not as good of a package.
“But we’ve still managed to overcome these issues, get on top of it, and still score very decent results,” he said.
Furthermore, he explained, “we want to keep going. And, as I said [previously], once we are going to have the pace, I think we’re going to be quite dangerous.”
In the current season, Ocon scored 74 points, putting him in the 11th position in the Drivers’ standings, while Alonso finished a little ahead in 10th position with 81 points to his name.
In the constructors’ championship with 155 points, 13 points ahead of its rival AlphaTauri, Alpine secured fifth place.
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