Ocon admits: “Car problems first noticed in December” | FP

Critical start

Fresh from a championship with little satisfaction and with a decisive internal revolution which took place during the current season, the expectations of theAlpine for the 2024 they certainly didn't expect the Anglo-French company to immediately enter into battle with the top teams, as recently admitted by team principal Bruno Famin. However, a crisis as strong and heavy as the one being experienced between Viry and Enstone, on and off the track, was not even expected.

Crisis on and off the track

In the first two races of the season, Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon both started from the bottom of the starting grid (in Bahrain even in the last row), with Ocon author of the 'best' placing obtained so far equivalent to 13th place in Jeddah. Furthermore, in this last race, Gasly encountered gearbox problems already on the reconnaissance lap, retiring shortly after the start. All this just days after another restructuring within Alpine following the resignations of Matt Harman, Dirk de Beer and Bob Bell.

The first negative signs

Zero points in the first two races and total chaos, but the first signs that things were not going right dated back to last year, and more specifically in the month of December. He admitted it to racingnews365.com Esteban Oconwith the negative sensations generated byA524 which have actually proven themselves on track.

Ocon's admission

“I think it was on the simulator, in Decemberwhich we realized there were some problems that we had to solve – declared Ocon – it's clear that we need to improve for the next races, we managed to run longer against our rivals in Saudi Arabia and it was easier to identify our weaknesses compared to Bahrain. We have to keep pushing and I will be at the factory this week. We have to give everything to find solutions with the team. Compared to Bahrain, I think we have seen some things here that we can improve, but there is still a lot of room, and we are aware of that. We were in front for a while, but we couldn't fight. I think that in normal situations, without battles, we are still behind“.