Esteban Ocon praised Alpine's ability to constantly produce improvements to the car, arguing that high productivity brings competitive advantage over rivals
Esteban Ocon believes that Alpine is in a good position to compete with its direct rivals at the British GP, which will be held in early July. Fernando Alonso's teammate argued that his team has been working hard on bringing improvements to the car whenever possible, which has helped the team stay competitive in the championship - and will happen again at Silverstone, with a new package of upgrades prepared by the French team.
"We usually have some upgrades coming, so it should be a good step for us," Ocon explained. "So, yes [I have] high hopes. It will be a long week, starting on Tuesday [with the simulator], so we have a lot of work ahead of us. And yes, I hope we can do well, because the car is where it should be," he said.
In retrospect, between the last few races, Alpine made improvements to the car in Spain [with upgrades to the rear wing, end plates and brake drum wings], in Azerbaijan [revised sidepodsAlpine brought improvements to the car in Spain [with upgrades to the rear wing, end plates and brake drum wings], Azerbaijan [revised sidepods and improvements to both the front and rear wing] and Canada [brought a beam wing - which returned in 2022 to F1, sits between the rear wing and diffuser - that is more efficient].
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"It's very encouraging," Ocon opined about the team's development. "The team is pushing hard and getting the improvements early, not when they were planned. And they are delivering, it's moving in the right direction. I think since the beginning of the year, we have improved more than several other teams. So, yes, we can be satisfied, we are moving in the right direction," he enthused.
Finally, asked if Alpine would be able to take the competition for third place to Mercedes at the moment, Ocon was realistic: he believes not. However, he treated the German team as the "next item" on the French team's list of championship goals.
"We are not there," the French driver acknowledged. "I was overtaken by them two [in Canada]. So we still have a long way to go. But yes, that is the goal. They are next on the list," he finished.
The British GP, held at the traditional Silverstone Circuit, takes place next weekend, between July 1 and 3.