Following two consecutive race weekends where he scored championship points, Esteban Ocon had to settle for 12th in Sunday’s Austrian Grand Prix. Despite finishing outside the points, Ocon remains pleased with the team’s recent surge in form.
Having qualified tenth for the main event, Ocon sets his eyes on Haas’ Nico Hülkenberg ahead of him. A great start from the 27-year-old put him ahead of the German in the early stages and looked to be on a contention for a strong points finish.
However, what happened next casts a shadow of doubt for Ocon as his Alpine A524 car began losing its competitive edge as the race progressed.
Hülkenberg quickly re-passed him. Magnussen and Ricciardo undercut him at the first stint, and he was ultimately overtaken by Pierre Gasly and Charles Leclerc on track as well.
Speaking after Sunday’s race, the Évreux-born driver talked about his race.
“Yeah, I mean, today wasn’t the best race on our side [of the garage].”
“Unfortunately, you know, we had a dream start because we managed to pass Nico and that was the aim. It was the car that we wanted to fight initially and I got in front of him, so that was really good. But after that, yeah, we were just not quick for some reason, not being able to hold them.“
The Frenchman described how the car pace fell away from him when it mattered the most, especially as he felt he was strong until the Grand Prix.
“And I was just falling back slowly, slowly all the way until the end. So, yeah, it wasn’t ideal. Difficult to explain why at the moment because it’s an outlier compared to the rest of the weekend where we had good pace.“
Ocon explained that the intra-team battle was just hard and fair racing despite how the two came close to contact at one stage.
“No, it was all hard and fair.”
At turn 9 during the race, a replay showed a sizeable piece flicking up and leaving Ocon’s car. It turned out to be his left-side rear brake duct winglets.
Ocon says it’s a concern if that was not picked up regarding performance load.
“I mean, I didn’t receive anything. I’ve seen some pieces flying off the car. Yeah, but that’s crazy that everyone tells me that because I just went to speak to the engineers and they didn’t see it.
“So if we have a piece of carbon flying and we don’t see it on the performance load, it’s quite worrying, I have to say. So I’m going to have a good check around the car with the guys to see what it is. It’s at the back of the car, isn’t it? Some big, big, big thing.
“The guys didn’t tell me anything.
“So we need to understand if that’s something that has happened and I’ve made a loose performance because then it’s easier to explain.”
Ultimately, Ocon had to settle for 12th. Regardless, he is impressed with the team’s recent form and believes that Alpine now has a competitive package to fight for points finishes consistently.
“Yeah, it’s encouraging to see that we are able to fight for interesting positions, at least some reward. Yeah, it’s been going on the upward trajectory since two races, so that’s good.”
The battle for seventh-place in the World Constructors’ Championship continues to heat up after Haas scored a double-points finish that propelled them ahead of Alpine by 10 points. Sitting in eighth with 9 points, the Enstone-based team clears Williams by 7 points at present.
Ocon himself was overtaken by Haas’ Kevin Magnussen for 16th in the World Drivers’ Championship.
