Alpine shifted its focus to 2022 early this year, but nevertheless achieved some strong results. The highlight was of course the victory in the Hungarian Grand Prix, the first victory of Esteban Ocon in Formula 1.
Teammate Fernando Alonso managed to grab a podium later in the year in the Qatar Grand Prix, where he finished behind Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen. Ocon almost managed to get a podium again in the race in Saudi Arabia, but the Frenchman was overtaken by Valtteri Bottas a few meters before the finish line.
Overall, the Alpine driver is pleased with the progress the team has made. “I think the team has made tremendous progress,” Ocon told several media outlets, including RacingNews365.
‘We had a less good package’
“We’ve improved the team on everything: operationally, making strategic decisions, paying attention to the tires, understanding the car and getting the most out of its power. I think it’s been a huge progress and I’m very happy with what we have shown this year,” concludes the Frenchman.
The Alpine driver emphasizes that the car was worse this year than the year before. “Of course we managed to get two podiums for the team this season, almost three, with a car that didn’t perform as well as last year. I think we had a less good package.”
Warning for Red Bull and Mercedes
Despite this, Alonso and Ocon have achieved many points, according to the Frenchman. “We managed to overcome those problems and get on top of them and we still managed to get some very decent results.”
The Frenchman therefore immediately has a warning for teams such as Red Bull and Mercedes. Ocon expects to be able to participate in the front next year with a good car.
“We want to keep going. And as I said before, once we get the pace[of the others, ed.]I think we will be very dangerous.”
Alpine finished fifth in the Constructors’ Championship with 155 points, thirteen points more than rival AlphaTauri. However, in 2020, when it still competed under the Renault name, the team scored 181 points and that with significantly fewer races.
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