Concerned about a possible exit of France from the Formula One calendar, Esteban Ocon argued that the country's motorsport tradition justifies holding a race "anywhere".
Esteban Ocon is looking forward to racing again in his home country, France, which will host the next round of the Formula 1 World Championship. However, the driver is aware that it may be his last appearance there, as the race in Paul Ricard is seriously threatened for the 2023 calendar - as are other traditional tracks such as Spa. The Alpine driver, when asked about it, made his opinion clear: France needs to stay in the category.
"Obviously, there's nothing confirmed yet," Ocon said. "I've heard a lot of rumors and things about the French GP. I really don't know about the Belgian GP. But I saw a great comment made by Stefano [Domenicali], basically saying that France deserves to have a race in the future. That's my opinion too, that's what I believe," he said.
Ocon even argued with the terminology of the term 'Grand Prix', coined in France, as a way of indicating the size of the country's tradition on the motorsport scene. According to Fernando Alonso's teammate, it would be possible to hold a race "anywhere" in the country.
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"A GP has 'Grand Prix' in the name, and you know, it's a French term," he stressed. "There is a big motorsport community in France, we have some of the biggest and best cars as well. We could find a race if Paul Ricard is not working. We could do it anywhere, and I saw some comments from Stefano about it, so I was happy," he said.
The threat to the permanence of some traditional tracks is explained by the emergence of new agreements, such as the debut of Miami in 2022 and the planned race in Las Vegas for 2023. In addition, Formula 1 has the intention - already made public - to return to Africa and is working to get a race in Kyalami, which would reduce the space on the calendar. It is worth remembering that next year, China will return to F1 and Qatar will hold its first race in a ten-year agreement.
"I'm going there for the next race very happy, to enjoy my French GP," he stressed. "I will see my own grandstand for the first time as well. So I'm looking forward to enjoying the encouragement of the fans there," he finished.