Esteban Ocon, finally points at home!

8th placeEsteban Ocon at the French Grand Prix was far from certain. In difficulty Friday and Saturday with his Alpine A522, the Frenchman had an eventful start to the race. A clash with Yuki tsunoda on the first lap, at the North Chicane, then a 5-second penalty disrupted the Normand's race. But the pilot Alpine managed to finish in the top 10 at the French Grand Prix, for the first time in his career. “We can be happy with this result. It wasn't our best weekend but we managed to finish in the points and put on a great show in front of the fans. »

Thanks to his 8th place, combined with his teammate's 6th place Fernando Alonso, Alpine gains a place in the manufacturer rankings. “We score points with both cars, we move to 4th in the constructor's championship, ahead of McLaren. It's a shame that we received a penalty at the start of the race, because I could have fought with Lando. But it's still a good result and I'm happy with the points we got today. »

Judged at fault for the collision with Tsunoda, Esteban Ocon compares the maneuver to those carried out in Austria. “I need to look at the footage.” Albon didn't get a penalty in Austria, George [Russell] got one. I couldn't say. It's a somewhat similar action. But without seeing the pictures, I can't say. »

“Our pace should be much higher” believes Ocon

Long in battle with the two McLarens, Alpine had more difficulty outclassing the British team at Paul-Ricard. The Woking team had made changes in France to get back into the rhythm of the French team. “We still lack speed. Our pace should be much higher. It made it difficult for us to battle against McLaren. It took me 25 laps to pass Daniel, it should have been faster. But it was a good battle with him,” explained Esteban Ocon upon arrival.

If McLaren has found rhythm again, Alpine suffered with the balance of his car at Castellet, which complicated Ocon's task during the Grand Prix. “We lacked consistency this weekend. The car was very unstable with the rear, especially in qualifying but also in the race. We need to review this and sort it out for next weekend. » The Norman will return to the circuit of his first victory in Formula 1 starting next weekend, in Hungary (July 29-31).

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