“This is very good and impressive what he’s achieving now” – Alonso
Fernando Alonso has admitted that his teammate, Esteban Ocon naturally is more comfortable with the Alpine team – helping him to prevail on track – but says it doesn’t stop him “giving 100%” every weekend.
Alonso made his awaited return to the grid this season, after leaving McLaren in 2018, and is now driving for Alpine alongside 24-year-old Ocon.
Speaking about his teammate after the Spanish Grand Prix, Fernando Alonso said, “I think he’s good, we are seeing that.
“He’s in very good form right now, fully integrated in the team, a podium last year in Bahrain in the last part of the championship and now giving perfect weekends.
“This is very good and impressive what he’s achieving now.”
At the end of Sunday’s race, Esteban managed to hold on to ninth place – bringing home 2 points for the team – while Fernando, after pitting close to the end as a result of high degradation on his Medium tyres on his second stint, came home in P17.
After a difficult Spanish Grand Prix for the two-time world champion, he says he know that strides of improvement need to be made – but pointed out that through the years, past drivers have each taken an entire season to settle into the car.
“I’m giving my 100% and obviously that’s not enough to be at that level at the moment so I need to keep improving”, he said.
“In a way we talk about this and we anticipated this a little bit when Carlos Sainz joined Renault.
“He was not as quick as Hulkenberg I remember in the first couple of races, and Daniel Ricciardo was arguably slower than Nico in 2019 and he was very good in 2020 in his second year.
“Esteban was struggling last year with Daniel and he’s good in this second year, so it seems that it’s a team that is a little bit different to the others and you need an adaptation.
“So I’m trying to do this as quickly as I can.
“I’m not worried, it’s going to come very soon, if not already because Imola we crossed the line together and Portimao we crossed the line together… but we will try to help the team as much as we can.”
Alpine currently sits fifth in the Constructors’ Championship behind Ferrari and McLaren in fourth and third respectively.
Mercedes continues to sit at the top of the Constructors’ list, with Red Bull remaining close behind.
Racing resumes on May 23 at the Circuit de Monaco for round 5 of the 2021 season.
