Despite his hesitant start, in which he has accused the two years he has been away from Formula 1, the president of the Renault Group confirmed Fernando Alonso as the leader of the Alpine team last May. Shortly after Luca de Meo’s words, Esteban Ocon was again ahead of Alonso in the Monaco Grand Prix, being the fourth time in a row that he had succeeded. However, since then, the Asturian has claimed responsibility for his partner.
When the president of the Renault Group confirmed Fernando Alonso as leader of Alpine, the difference between the two-time champion and Esteban Ocon in terms of classification was even more pronounced in favor of the French (1 – 4). Despite this, Luca de Meo pointed out: ” Alonso is the one who takes the role of leader for everyone .” “Obviously, he has brought all the experience he has, but also the demand. He is a person who, as everyone knows in Formula 1, is very demanding because he is a pure driver. In addition, it has brought ambition. Because I think he’s leading the whole team. I asked him at the beginning of the season to have the role of leader for everyone in the team and I think he is doing really well ”, he added.
Days after Luca de Meo’s statements, Fernando Alonso had publicly praised Esteban Ocon : “What he is currently achieving is impressive. I am giving my one hundred percent and obviously that is not enough to be at that level at the moment, so I need to keep improving ”. “He got on the podium last year in Bahrain, in the last part of the championship, and now he has perfect weekends . So that’s very good. I think it is good, and we are seeing it ”, added the Spaniard.
Why did Ocon start better than Alonso?
However, Fernando Alonso explained why Esteban Ocon was better than him: “He is doing very well and has been with this team for two years . I have changed teams, or competition, several times, and you always have to go through a period of adaptation . It was never an excuse and it won’t be now ”.
The man from Oviedo also alluded to a peculiarity of the Alpine team: “I remember that in the first races, when Carlos joined Renault, he was not as fast as Hulkenberg. And you could say that Daniel was slower than Nico in 2019, and then he was very good in 2020, his second year. At the same time, Esteban was suffering last year with Daniel and now he is well in his second year, so it seems that it is a team that is a little different from the others and needs a greater adaptation ”.
The adaptation of Fernando Alonso
Regarding his adaptation to Formula 1, Fernando Alonso commented: “ The start of the season is not the best possible schedule for a driver who is new . I had Imola and Portugal, two circuits that I haven’t driven on for years or never, like in Portimao, and the others drove four months ago and then two city circuits, so the first six races are very challenging to adapt . From France I hope a new championship begins for me ”.
Just before France, in Baku, Fernando Alonso claimed sixth place in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. With this result, the Asturian put Esteban Ocon in his place, who is behind him in the World Cup classification. Fernando Alonso agreed with Luca de Meo and has done it again in France. Although the Spanish also pointed out as one of his aspects to improve the classification, Alonso reached Q3 in Paul Ricard while Esteban Ocon was eliminated. Also in the race, the two-time champion finished ahead of his teammate, who was out of the points zone.
Alonso is the leader and Ocon his ideal partner
Although not as a leader, Alpine considers Esteban Ocon’s site to be alongside Fernando Alonso . For this reason, now that his performance has dropped, the French team has renewed his contract until 2024. And the fact is that both have hit it off very well, as confirmed by Ocon himself: “A lot of people have told me a lot about him, but what that I see from within I am enjoying it. It is a total collaboration so far , Fernando is very honest and when he says something it is because he thinks so. Within the team, too. We make similar comments about the car and I think it is working well, it is being very nice to me so far .
