Motorsport Week
  • Formula 1
    • 2023 Formula 1 Calendar
    • 2023 Formula 1 Standings
    • 2023 Formula 1 Team/Driver Line-Up
    • 2023 Formula 1 Driver Penalty Points
  • Formula E
    • 2022/23 Formula E Standings
    • 2022/23 Formula E Calendar
    • 2022/23 Formula E Team/Driver Line-up
  • IndyCar
    • 2023 IndyCar Calendar
    • 2023 IndyCar Driver Line-Up
    • 2023 IndyCar Standings
  • WRC
    • 2023 WRC Calendar
    • 2023 WRC Standings
    • 2023 WRC Driver Line-up
  • MotoGP
    • 2023 MotoGP Calendar
    • 2023 MotoGP Team/Rider Line-Up
    • 2022 Championship Standings
  • WEC
    • 2023 WEC Calendar
    • 2023 WEC Hypercar Team/Driver Line-up
  • More
    • IMSA
      • 2023 IMSA GTP Team/Driver Line-up
      • 2023 IMSA Calendar
    • Formula 2
      • 2023 Formula 2 Race Calendar
      • 2023 Formula 2 Driver Line-up
    • Formula 3
      • 2023 Formula 3 Race Calendar
      • 2023 Formula 3 Driver Line-up
    • DTM
    • WSeries
    • Technical Insight
    • Galleries
    • About/Contact
    • Privacy Policy
LIVE
No Result
View All Result
  • Formula 1
    • 2023 Formula 1 Calendar
    • 2023 Formula 1 Standings
    • 2023 Formula 1 Team/Driver Line-Up
    • 2023 Formula 1 Driver Penalty Points
  • Formula E
    • 2022/23 Formula E Standings
    • 2022/23 Formula E Calendar
    • 2022/23 Formula E Team/Driver Line-up
  • IndyCar
    • 2023 IndyCar Calendar
    • 2023 IndyCar Driver Line-Up
    • 2023 IndyCar Standings
  • WRC
    • 2023 WRC Calendar
    • 2023 WRC Standings
    • 2023 WRC Driver Line-up
  • MotoGP
    • 2023 MotoGP Calendar
    • 2023 MotoGP Team/Rider Line-Up
    • 2022 Championship Standings
  • WEC
    • 2023 WEC Calendar
    • 2023 WEC Hypercar Team/Driver Line-up
  • More
    • IMSA
      • 2023 IMSA GTP Team/Driver Line-up
      • 2023 IMSA Calendar
    • Formula 2
      • 2023 Formula 2 Race Calendar
      • 2023 Formula 2 Driver Line-up
    • Formula 3
      • 2023 Formula 3 Race Calendar
      • 2023 Formula 3 Driver Line-up
    • DTM
    • WSeries
    • Technical Insight
    • Galleries
    • About/Contact
    • Privacy Policy
No Result
View All Result
Motorsport Week
Home Single Seater Formula 1

Alpine CEO addresses Ocon second driver remark

by Taylor Powling
2 weeks ago
A A
0
Alpine CEO addresses Ocon second driver remark

Esteban Ocon (FRA) Alpine F1 Team. 02.03.2023. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 1, Bahrain Grand Prix, Sakhir, Bahrain, Preparation Day.

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi has clarified previous comments he made stating Esteban Ocon represented “an excellent second driver” option for the team.

Ocon returned to Formula 1 after a year’s hiatus with the Enstone-based squad in 2020.

After a strong start to his second season with the Anglo-French outfit, the French driver was rewarded with a long-term extension to the end of 2024.

Rossi subsequently made reference to Ocon as “not guaranteed World Champion material… so at the very least I have myself an excellent second driver.”

RelatedPosts

Steiner: No longer a backmarker team on the F1 grid

Steiner: No longer a backmarker team on the F1 grid

3 hours ago
Norris reveals F1 livery he wants to see McLaren return to

Norris reveals F1 livery he wants to see McLaren return to

5 hours ago

Speaking recently to F1’s official Beyond the Grid podcast, Rossi moved to clarify his earlier remarks, claiming his opinion of Ocon’s ability was misinterpreted at the time.

“There’s no mystery about the fact that I’ve very quickly tried to make Esteban feel comfortable in the team,” he mentioned.

“Because Esteban, what was remarkable about this boy is that he has never had an easy linear path. Every single year almost he was told ‘that’s it, that’s over, that’s the end of the road with us and you need to find another gig next year’. Which is super difficult, especially in a career like that, you need a bit of a runway, right?

“You need to feel comfortable about the fact that you’re going to drive for a while and you actually can make this job your job for real, not just a hobby, and it’s never ever been easy for him like really.

“And so irrespective of that, I also knew that this boy has been successful in all categories, has been racing against Max [Verstappen], Charles [Leclerc], everyone that is top driver today, and he has beat them over time in the past.

“So I’m like, ‘yeah, some potential, let’s put him in a more comfortable zone’, not fully comfortable because he needs to be on his toes all the time, that’s important, but let us see what he has in store if we give him the environment, like a bit of like peace of mind.

“And so that’s why we decided to bet on him for three years, and give him a bit of a runway also, because back then, to be honest, nobody wanted to come to Alpine, let’s be clear, so it was as good a driver as we could get.

“And I’ve always said Esteban is at very least a very good second driver.

“Everyone interpreted that in different ways, but when I say that, it’s like, there’s no one and two at Ferrari, but I’m pretty sure a lot of people think there’s a two! There’s no one and two at Mercedes, and that’s hard to figure out who’s the two there to be honest.

“And I think Esteban would be one of those two, whichever person you would pick in both of those teams, so that’s what I meant by that,” Rossi explained.

Following two seasons with the vastly more experienced Fernando Alonso as his team-mate, Ocon has taken on the mantle of being the senior driver within the Alpine ranks this year.

Alonso has departed for Aston Martin, with Pierre Gasly arriving to form an all-French line-up.

Rossi is assured that Ocon has the credentials to lead the side, having noticed a distinct difference in the way he has conducted himself since his long-term future in F1 was protected.

“Yes, I did,” was Rossi’s immediate response when asked if he had depicted a change in Ocon’s approach since the announcement concerning his contract extension in early 2021.

“He started driving more efficiently and putting things together for the long term, not trying to impress everyone at every race, which is a very different thing because he was taking inconsiderate risks and he was basically driving, perhaps without knowing, with that fear that he had to potentially lose his seat on that race.

“So basically, it was different, and I told him now the thing is, you need to grow, like, grow up, like in many ways, and grow the team with yourself.

“That means you need to be more of a strategic driver and a leader, which is extremely different from just being a super-fast cool boy, that’s a different story.

“I need you to exhibit the qualities that might make you one day, a world champion, which is something different than just racing fast.

“All of the drivers on the grid are racing super-fast, no doubt, they could beat one another on one lap, no doubt, like even the last on the grid could be the first on one lap, I’m pretty sure. And they would admit it.

“But on a long term, building a team, rallying the people around you, extracting the maximum performance out of your car, but not just your car, out of the factory, out of like the 1200 people supporting you, that’s a different ballgame.

“And that’s what I told him to do. I gave him those three years in exchange of taking the team higher up with you,” the Alpine chief concluded.

Tags: AlpineF1Oconrossi
Share2368Tweet1480Share592

Related Posts

Steiner: No longer a backmarker team on the F1 grid
Formula 1

Steiner: No longer a backmarker team on the F1 grid

3 hours ago
Norris reveals F1 livery he wants to see McLaren return to
Formula 1

Norris reveals F1 livery he wants to see McLaren return to

5 hours ago
Formula 1

Video: F1 Car vs Outback – Ricciardo’s great Aussie road trip

6 hours ago
Load More

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Popular Articles

Rosberg: Hamilton’s split with trainer Cullen ‘makes things even worse’
Formula 1

Rosberg: Hamilton’s split with trainer Cullen ‘makes things even worse’

March 22, 2023
Massa: No reason why Verstappen won’t win six F1 titles in a row
Formula 1

Massa: No reason why Verstappen won’t win six F1 titles in a row

March 24, 2023

Upcoming Races

#EventLocationDate
2Saudi Arabian GPJeddah19 March
3Australian GPMelbourne02 April
4Azerbaijan GPBaku30 April
5Miami GPMiami07 May
6Emilia Romagna GPImola21 May

Click here for the full 2023 F1 calendar

Drivers’  Standings

#DriverPts
Max Verstappen44
Sergio Perez43
Fernando Alonso30
George Russell18
Carlos Sainz20
Lewis Hamilton20
Lance Stroll8
Charles Leclerc6
Valtteri Bottas4
Esteban Ocon4

Click here for full Drivers’ Standings

Follow Motorsport Week

Motorsport Week

© 2023 Motorsport Media Services Ltd

Other Links

  • About & Contact
  • Privacy Policy
  • Motorsport Monday

Follow Us

No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • Sign Up
  • Home
  • Formula 1
    • Latest News
    • Standings
    • 2023 F1 Calendar
    • Team/Driver Line-Up
    • Session Results
    • Driver Penalty Points
  • Formula E
    • Latest News
    • 2022/23 Formula E Standings
    • 2022/23 Formula E Calendar
    • Session Results
  • MotoGP
    • Latest News
    • Standings
    • Calendar
  • WRC
    • Latest News
    • Standings
    • Calendar
  • IndyCar
    • Latest News
    • Calendar
    • Standings
  • WEC
    • Latest News
    • Calendar
  • Live Updates
  • Other
    • Formula 2
    • Formula 3
    • Moto2
    • Moto3
    • WSeries
    • DTM
    • IMSA
  • Galleries
  • About/Contact
  • Privacy Policy

© 2023 Motorsport Media Services Ltd

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
X