Esteban Ocon said he’s cautious about the “tricky” 2024 Formula 1 season start with Alpine’s new “aggressive” car following a relatively disappointing 2023 campaign.
The French squad unveiled their new car last Wednesday.
At the launch, Alpine’s technical director Matt Harman said that they “tried to look at every single area to build a car that can have potential through the whole year, and I think that with this car we have achieved that.”
He said they tried to “squeeze everything that [they] could” into the new chassis design as well, which was improved to allow optimization of the car’s aerodynamics.
The team also said they made improvements in the Power Unit and the floor, which Harman praised as a “fantastic design work.”
However, all that optimism going into the new season needs to be contained, and Ocon knows that.
“We have to be humble,” he told the media after the launch.
“Obviously, it’s a very aggressive concept that we are going into. [We are] taking a new car and changing completely the approach because we thought we were maximising the old concept. But this year it’s about understanding early on where we are exactly, who’s where, who have improved more.”
The French driver warned it “could be tricky where we [Alpine] start” because they first need to “understand the car and get it where it should be, because [it] should be a better concept, definitely, with what we have decided to take.”
To conclude, Ocon defended the team’s new technical path, saying that if they “decided to take that concept, it means there’s more potential than the other one.”
“Early on in Bahrain it’s going to be crucial to get the right feedback straight away to the team, analyae and get ready for the first couple of races.
“We need to see a bit more long-term here, more than straightaway short term because it’s like a new car.”
