Sep.20 (GMM) Esteban Ocon has hinted that he’s wanting ahead to placing his Alpine journey behind him, because it has detracted from the “enjoyable” of racing in Method 1.
Baku final weekend was an ideal abstract of the Renault-owned crew’s 2024 disaster, because the French driver struggled all weekend not solely with a scarcity of tempo, however a number of technical issues.
“We had so many issues,” Ocon, who’s switching to Haas for subsequent season, mentioned in Singapore. “We might hardly drive. It was additionally troublesome in Monza.
“We are going to attempt to construct up confidence right here, accumulate laps and enhance the automotive step-by-step, however I’m not even speaking about efficiency. There have been at all times totally different issues.”
The official story is that the Alpine-Ocon cut up was mutual, however hypothesis suggests both the crew bored with the 28-year-old’s egocentric driving, or Ocon merely couldn’t face one other season with the Enstone primarily based crew.
“It hasn’t been a enjoyable season for anybody right here up to now,” Ocon mentioned on Thursday. “I haven’t loved driving for a very long time now. I wish to finish my chapter right here as greatest as I can however ninth in the intervening time is what we deserve.
“We’re doing every part we are able to to show the scenario round, however it’s very troublesome to take action when the others are making progress. Sure it’s not simple, however I’m not giving up. Sadly, the tip of this story is sort of unhappy.
“I didn’t wish to finish it like this, however I’m doing my greatest for this model that has been very particular to me for therefore a few years. I’ll keep targeted till the tip, after all, however I’ll additionally take a look at what they’re doing at Haas.
“They’re making superb progress,” he mentioned.
Whereas some suppose Haas could have been Ocon’s solely possibility for 2025 and past, he truly had a seat becoming at Williams this season and reportedly turned down a proposal from Audi-owned Sauber.
Ocon, referring to Haas’ new crew boss Ayao Komatsu, mentioned: “Clearly I’ve a really lengthy historical past with Ayao, who was my first race engineer in Method 1, and he satisfied me of his plan on the place they wish to head to.”
