Esteban Ocon: « Always motivated, whatever the result »
Despite a tense context, Esteban Ocon performed well at the Spanish Grand Prix. His results were very good, despite a problem with his flat-bottom which penalized him in the race.
The famous early summer triple header began with the Spanish Grand Prix this Sunday. It is important to be immediately in the rhythm, especially because of the sprint format which will be back at full speed next weekend in Austria. Just like Pierre Gasly, Esteban Ocon was competitive from the Friday practices, consistently around the top 10. Naturally qualifying for Q3, he even managed to snatch Oscar Piastri’s place to start eighth on the grid (Sergio Perez was penalized 3 places, down to 11th). Finishing in the points was clearly the stated objective on Canal + microphone:
« It’s a positive weekend because we finish in the points. Very positive maybe not, we are only 9th and 10th, it’s not a lot of points either.
The car was not behaving well at all
For reminder, Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly exchanged their chassis between Canada and Spain. Esteban Ocon found that the behavior was not quite the same, due to a slightly different weight balance. However, during the race, it was not a question of different weight but of a damaged floor which was a handicap: “We think we had a problem with the floor: damage from something we caught at the beginning of the race on the floor. The race was very difficult, the car wasn’t behaving well at all.” Before adding: “There was a lot of oversteer in the corner entries, I was sliding so much that we were overheating the tires. It was complicated but we still finished in the points, which is positive.”
After stopping first with Sergio Perez on the 14th lap of the race, Esteban Ocon found himself out of sync for almost the entire Grand Prix. At the finish, he recovered the 10th position, only passed by Oscar Piastri and Sergio Perez. He scores 1 point again, just like in Canada two weeks ago.
« We are always motivated, no matter the result.
Like his teammate, in addition to explaining Alpine’s recent good form, it will be necessary to solve this issue with the floor: « We need to understand exactly what it was and why we had this problem. We hope there will be fewer problems next week.
Despite his departure at the end of the season, the French driver remains motivated and determined, more than ever, to convince the world of F1 that he still has a place in the premier category. He emphasizes that he remains fully focused on the 2024 season with Alpine: “We are always motivated, no matter the result. We always try to push and move forward.” Next episode to follow next weekend, for the Austrian Grand Prix, at the Red Bull Ring.
