Esteban Ocon has asserted that drivers not being listened to enough has been a recurring thing that has contributed to Alpine continuing to underdeliver in Formula 1.
Alpine has endured a miserable campaign this season which has witnessed it accumulate 11 points in 14 races to languish eighth in the Constructors’ Championship.
The Enstone-based squad’s plight has prompted a mass restructuring behind the scenes and a plan to scrap the engine department to become a customer operation.
Renault’s return to full-time involvement in F1 in 2016 has not produced the desired results as the side, known as Alpine since 2021, has not placed higher than fourth.
Although there has been multiple changes at the helm, Ocon has pinpointed drivers’ feedback not being taken on board as a consistent issue since he arrived in 2020.
“There’s a lot of things that have not evolved the way they should have been,” Ocon, who will depart Alpine to switch to Haas in 2025, explained.
“On my side, on Fernando’s [Alonso], on Pierre’s [Gasly] side, on Danny’s [Daniel Ricciardo] side, we said a lot of things on the car development.
“And unfortunately at some stage there’s been a loop missing where we’ve been giving the feedback, but not really having the feedback coming back to us and the confirmation.
“Sometimes we haven’t been listened to the way we should have been, I would say.
“We have been carrying some issues we still had a couple of years ago.
“We’ve improved a lot of other things but we can’t be waiting years and years to fix some problems. And that’s what has happened.
“The circle didn’t come back and the issues haven’t been fixed in the way they should have been.
“It’s frustrating for everyone because we don’t have the kind of performance we expected to have and that’s something we have to live with.”
Ocon, who will move to a Haas squad that boasts the smallest budget on the grid, has denied that an increase in resources would have prevented Alpine’s regression.
“I don’t think it’s money,” he retorted. “This team has a lot of resources. The factories are massive in Viry and Enstone.
“I wish this team the best for the future, I hope they can be competitive again, like they’ve been in the past.
“There’s a lot of new technical people inside the team now and I wish them the best. I won’t be here in the future to know how that goes but I hope this brand can shine again.”
Meanwhile, the Frenchman has quashed the perceived idea that his impending exit has resulted in his involvement in engineering meetings with Alpine being reduced.
Asked whether his split with Alpine was like getting a divorce and continuing to live in the same household, Ocon responded: “No, honestly no it’s not like that.
“We keep the work going, as we were doing before.
“I haven’t been put out of meetings and things for the future. I must not be aware of these kinds of things because it has not been the case.
“I’m still very much onboard on every technical aspect of things and that’s how it should be, otherwise we are not moving forward.”
Discussion about this post