Esteban Ocon has been Fernando Alonso’s teammate since the start of the 2021 campaign, when the Spanish driver returned to motorsport’s top flight with Alpine after two seasons away from the fastest cars on the planet.
In his beginnings sharing a garage, the French driver was notably faster than the Asturian, but that dynamic was changing little by little and this year Alonso seems to have performed at a higher level. Yes, it seems, because if we look at the numbers, who is ahead with four races to go to the end of the season is Ocon.
That made the French driver himself recently say that he had been, along with Lewis Hamilton, the driver who had made Fernando Alonso the most difficult as a teammate in his entire career in Formula 1.
Already in the paddock of the Circuit of the Americas and with his sights set on the 2022 United States Grand Prix, Alonso responded to the comments of the one who is still his partner and initially acknowledged that he agreed.
“Yes, it has been very good, very competitive . We have worked very well together during these two years here at Alpine.”
“I think last year, he was very close , especially at the beginning of the year. He was faster in qualifying, in the race and in everything,” added the two-time Formula 1 world champion.
However, the Asturian wanted to clarify what is happening this season, since despite being behind in the general driver classification, he believes that without the problems and the dropouts that have subtracted “about 60 points” he would be far ahead of the French pilot.
” This year, I think I have a different opinion . It has been one of my best seasons, but yes, qualifying won’t say that at the end and I will probably finish behind,” concluded the Spanish driver.
In the absence of four grand prix to close the curtain on the 2022 course, Fernando Alonso is ninth in the drivers’ standings with 65 points, one position behind Esteban Ocon, who has been able to add 78 units, 13 more than his teammate of equipment. So if something extraordinary does not happen, it seems difficult for the Oviedo man to finish above the Frenchman in what will be his last year sharing a garage, since Alonso will wear the colors of Aston Martin from 2023 and Ocon’s new partner will be Pierre Gasley.
