Ocon argues that 'phenomenon Alonso' is not better than last year: "Now the car is better"

According to Esteban Ocon, Fernando Alonso is not better this year compared to the previous season and is just as strong as before. In the opinion of the Frenchman, the difference lies mainly in the car, as Alonso has a much better machine this year compared to 2022. This gives Alpine the motivation to see how quickly a midfield team can transform into a top team like Aston Martin in 2023.

Ocon was in a good mood when he arrived in Austria. Alpine has been performing quite well in the past few weekends. The Frenchman stood on the podium in Monaco and has been able to score good points multiple times since then. Additionally, Ocon was very pleased with Ryan Reynolds' ownership and expects Alpine to continue growing. At the beginning of the year, it was mentioned that Alonso had made the move to Aston Martin just in time, as he is now achieving much more there than at Alpine in 2022. However, Ocon believes that is solely due to the car Alonso is currently driving.

"Fernando is not better than last season, he is just as strong as before, but he has a better car this year. And that also gives us motivation to see how quickly a midfield team can transform into a top team," Ocon stated in an interview with the Spanish Marca. "Every time you have a new teammate, you learn a lot. That was the case with Fernando, who is a phenomenon to me, but now also with Pierre. Pierre and I share ideas," Ocon revealed. Alpine can also manage without Alonso, as demonstrated by the French team in Monaco. "That was a great moment that meant a lot to me and my team. It once again showed how quickly the situation in Formula 1 can change."

Ocon hopes for dry weekend: "We've had enough rain"

For the Austrian Grand Prix, the Frenchman doesn't expect a podium finish, but he does anticipate performing better than last year. In the Sprint, he finished sixth and came in fifth in the main race. However, this is not guaranteed considering the weather forecasts for the weekend at the Red Bull Ring. "We've had enough rain recently, so it would be good to test the car with the new rear wing that we brought to Canada under normal conditions. If it rains again, we'll have to make the best of it," Ocon shrugged. "You can only achieve improvement in Formula 1 when many parameters are correct. We are already close to the top five in the standings, but we still have a lot of work to do on race performance," said the Alpine driver.