Esteban Ocon said he had to "raise my game as much as I could" to defeat Fernando Alonso during their time as Alpine Formula 1 teammates.
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Before Alonso’s move to Aston Martin for the 2023 season, the duo finished their two seasons of racing at Alpine at the season finale in Abu Dhabi at the end of last month. Ocon beat Alonso 92-81 to win the year’s final points standings, ending their two-season alliance with a better points total (166-162) and a higher race finish thanks to his triumph in Hungary in July. Ocon thus becomes the first driver since Lewis Hamilton in 2007 to outperform Alonso on a teammate basis. Ocon acknowledged that he “had his troubles too” and that it felt fantastic to finish ahead of Alonso this year despite the reliability concerns that cost him points.
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Ocon did not finish on the podium in Formula One this year, although he did score his highest number of points to date and match his eighth-place result in the championship from his first full season in 2017. The Frenchman thought that his season, which he considered to be his greatest in Formula One thus far, was “just” lacking a podium finish. It happened despite Alpine’s season-long reliability concerns, which frequently seemed to affect Alonso’s car. With its emphasis on performance, Ocon believed Alpine had “made this position ourselves,” but he had relished working with Alonso to move the team further in that pursuit. Working with Fernando and raising the bar for the team has been wonderful, according to Ocon. “I’m delighted we got to spend two years together, and I wish him the best of luck at Aston. Hopefully, we can battle together again soon.”
