Esteban Ocon has revealed how his battles with several rival cars throughout the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix exposed the weaknesses within Alpine’s 2024 Formula 1 car.
Alpine has endured a disastrous start to the latest campaign with an overhauled A524 challenger that has proven to be uncompetitive and overweight in equal measure.
The Enstone-based squad has sustained consecutive double Q1 eliminations, but Ocon capitalised on Kevin Magnussen backing up the pack to be in the midfield mix.
Ocon took advantage of the Haas driver’s tactics to help team-mate Nico Hulkenberg land a point to overtake Yuki Tsunoda when the RB was compromised at Turn 3.
Although the Frenchman would slip through the order in the closing stages to 13th place, he was uplifted that he learned “a lot of things” regarding Alpine’s limitations.
“I think an opportunistic race. I think that’s how we should call it,” Ocon said. “I think we were up to P10 at some point virtually because Kevin had the penalty.
“So, yeah, we navigated our way through and fought our way through and there was a lot of battles. But, yeah, in the end, it was just not enough.
“We were up to a point that we couldn’t keep, basically, we were faster than what the car could do in the end. We went backwards towards the end, unfortunately.
“So, you know, it’s clear, very clear what we need to improve for the next races. Now, being racing more with the other guys, it was easier [to] spot than Bahrain.
“We’re going to keep digging, keep pushing and I’m going to be in the factory by Tuesday or Wednesday already. So, yeah, I’m going to keep pushing to find solutions with the guys.”
Asked whether he took encouragement that he could fight with other cars in Jeddah compared to in Bahrain the previous week, Ocon retorted: “I couldn’t really fight.
“But, yeah, we managed to get in front of them somehow. But on a normal circuit, that’s normal situations. And no fighting, we are still missing.”
Nevertheless, Ocon was adamant that the second race of the season provided a clearer assessment of the issues Alpine must address to compete against its rivals.
“In comparison to Bahrain, I think here, there was quite a few things that we spotted that we can improve,” he added. “But there is a lot to improve still and we are well within.”
Haas’ instruction to tell Magnussen to reduce his pace to help Hulkenberg build a suitable gap to pit has provided a controversial point of discussion since the race ended.
“I think his team has been very tough with him on that one,” Ocon commented. “Yeah, it’s been quite chaotic, to say the least.
“Good opportunities on my side because otherwise, I would probably not have been able to fight for that. But, yeah, it’s been quite an insane race.”
Magnussen had been in line to receive a 20-second time drop for two misdemeanours, with both RB and Williams noting their intention to talk with the FIA on the matter.
Ocon admitted that Magnussen’s resolute defence was “tough racing”, but added: “I like tough racing, so that’s not for me to complain about.”
“You know, FIA has to decide if it’s too much or not. It’s not on my side,” he continued. “But being behind with how much traffic it created; it created some tricky situations.”
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