Four more races and then Fernando Alonso he will definitively say goodbye to the French team to join Aston Martin in place of Sebastian Vettel from 2023. In what is assumed to be the last phase of his career in F1. The separation with the Alpine hasn't exactly been the most serene. Fernando with his last minute choice put both the French team and the French team in difficulty Oscar Piastri with one foot still in the Alpine garage and another in the McLaren one, with a pre-contract that had already been prepared. Esteban Ocon, the backbone of the team, remained in charge of the stable, who for months waited to find out the name of his future teammate. The French driver spoke about his relationship with Fernando, what he will miss and what he won't miss instead, also launching a warning to the next partner, the other "cockerel" of the Circus, Pierre Gasly.
We will also do well without Fernando
Don't say that Ocon is a pilot without character. It takes a lot of time for him to repeatedly close the door on a team-mate like Fernando Alonso. Fernando, after helping Ocon achieve his first career victory in Hungary in 2021, perhaps would have expected more gratitude from the young French driver who, however, has not had many qualms about dueling with his team-mate in the season that has just begun in 2022 . Even at the cost of both ending up outside, like in Jeddah where other circumstances then stopped Fernando's race.
The Alpine turned out to be the most competitive car in the middle group, leaving it dry McLaren on several occasions. This was also thanks to the strong drive on the engine front which however compromised its reliability. The team is working well but Alonso would not be essential for development, says Ocon.
"I am really convinced that we can continue to improve even without Fernando, exactly as we are doing right now. I think we are on the right track. Alonso will go to another team and we have to accept that, that's the way things are. I wish him all the best. I will miss Fernando on a personal level. In these two years of work as a colleague at Alpine, I have worked well with him. Fernando also has a great sense of humor out of the car, and then he gives great technical discussion points and how to approach the races. I'm sure I'll miss him, but it will be fun to keep racing against him."
Pierre, watch out for being the boss!
There are times when the team has to make certain choices, especially when there are few developments and the rankings speak for themselves. We cannot take for example the Ferrari given that even in these conditions the team was not able to choose a first and a second driver, but Ocon immediately wants to make things clear. If Fernando had the right to speak representing an important part of the team's past, Ocon compared to Gasly knows he can count on being past, present and future – in large part – of Alpine. A condition on which the Frenchman does not want to compromise is therefore his position in the group. “Teammate? I've never paid much attention to this aspect. The important thing is to do my job, as I have done up until now, and lead the team in terms of set-up and feedback. Whoever came, – even though he had tried to to propose the candidacy of Mick Schumacher something not appreciated by the team – I would always be the one with the most experience in the team and in the working group".
Source statements: FormulaPassion
