In Formula 1 you are only as good as your last race, although the penultimate also counts. Alpine was in crisis at the start of the season, but Ocon’s podium in Monaco was the turning point and in Barcelona the two French cars finished in the points. Esteban is ninth in the standings and Gasly, tenth. The car is fifth in the Constructors’ World Championship behind Red Bull, Mercedes, Aston Martin and Ferrari, something that does justice to what has been seen on the track. In a meeting with AS, the two drivers explain their feelings after this first third of the 2023 campaign.
It is inevitable to ask Ocon (26 years old) how life is going in the Enstone garage without Alonso on board and what is the relationship between the two former teammates now. “The press likes to talk a lot, but everything is going well. I have enormous respect for him and always will. Now we compete close. Not as close as we would like, but we do compete on the track (in Barcelona, the Spaniard overtook him for seventh position). Fernando is having a fantastic season, respect. I have no doubt that he continues to be at his best level. I have raced him in recent years and he shows everyone that he is one of the best ever. I take my hat off. He’s doing amazingly well, I’m glad, and I hope to get to that level soon.”
“I do the same job as when Fernando was here. I go to the factory every week, I’m involved in the project, I work with the same people and there are no differences”, explains Esteban, happy with third place in Monte Carlo: “I had a lot of confidence in the car from the first practice sessions, I was able to get close to the walls little by little each session and build that lap. I hit the walls quite hard on occasion, but I didn’t stay far from pole. Unfortunately. We didn’t expect to be there, but then we were able to keep that starting position. A lot happened in the race, it’s never easy when you’re ahead. Carlos’s coup (sainz)the Lewis pressure (Hamilton)the rain… it was extremely difficult, but everyone in the team deserves that result.”
“The differences are impressive when driving two Formula 1”
On the other side of the garage, Gasly (27 years old). His comments on the process of adapting the Alpha Tauri (and the Red Bull philosophy cars) to the Alpine are reminiscent of Fernando’s first months returning to F1 in 2021: “Steering is one of those quite different things. It is unique to each team. Plus the response of the engine, the transmission, the engine management, the recovery is also different from what I was used to. The sensitivity in piloting is different. The stiffness of the car in general is different from what I knew. From the outside, my friends say that all F1 cars have the same shape and should be very similar, but behind the wheel it’s amazing how different they are. It’s a big change. I can’t point to one thing in particular, everything about the engine and the chassis is very different.
Esteban also has an unforgettable victory in his record, Hungary 2021. “We have known each other since we were nine years old. They are 18 years old. I haven’t known many people for so long. I know him very well. We’ve had our ups and downs, everyone knows that, but this season has been pretty straightforward. I want the best for the team and he does too. It is being quite easy to work together”, says Gasly, who still sees differences between the A523 and the rivals that are ahead: “I think that the disadvantage with Mercedes and Ferrari is not that great. We saw it in Monaco, we did better than them. It is specific to each circuit. In Miami they were unreachable; in Baku, Ferrari took pole and it was spectacular, but then in Monaco they suffered more. It depends on the track. Although I do think that Aston (Martin) it’s a consistent second car anywhere. Ferrari, Mercedes and we are in the same area”.