Throughout the history of F1 there are numerous examples of unhealthy relationships between teammates, of internal duels that have ruined the aspirations of their team or at least damaged their image.
However, and although they themselves admit that it is easier when you are not fighting for victories and titles, there are also other examples of positive cooperation, such as the one Alpine is experiencing this year.
Alonso was key fending off Hamilton in Hungary to allow his teammate Ocon to win and, although to a lesser extent, the Frenchman fended off Pérez to help the Spaniard get on the podium in Qatar.
Marcin Budkowski spoke of them, who celebrated that relationship and explained how Fernando Alonso sees Esteban Ocon and vice versa.
Asked in Saudi Arabia if he had ever seen such a close relationship between drivers in his F1 career, Budkowski replied: “You know, every driver pairing is different. But really this one… it’s, you know, it’s fantastic. see her.”
“It’s a bit like an older brother/little brother relationship that Fernando and Esteban have. Esteban admits Fernando for his career and his achievements, although at the beginning of the year he wanted to show him how fast he is and he did it on a few occasions” .
“And I think Fernando increased his respect for Esteban when he saw how quick he could be.”
Budkowski admits that they watch each other, but that does not affect their relationship, and recalls how key they were for each other in the two best results of 2021: “They are both fast and they measure and observe each other, but they also take very good. And, you know, in the two races where we finished on the podium they helped each other.”
“And I want to repeat that they almost helped each other without the team asking. You know, Fernando knew exactly what he was doing in Budapest to help Esteban win that race. And when Fernando jokingly asked Esteban to help him in Qatar, Esteban knew exactly what the race situation was and was very willing to do it. That was great.”
“It’s great to see. You guys have seen it on the track, and we see that every day in the meetings, in the preparation of the race. They respect each other, help each other and work together to achieve the best and get the best results for the team. team,” he concluded.
See how the Alpine looks with its new colors (green) in Saudi Arabia
Foto de: Jerry Andre / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Erik Junius
Photo by: Erik Junius
Foto de: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Alpine
Photo by: Alpine
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images
