Esteban Ocon, Alpine F1 team driver, revealed that he has been hindered in the recent Formula 1 races due to the weight of his car. Ocon stated that his car was “a few kilograms” heavier than his teammate’s car during the Canadian Grand Prix. Alpine expected challenges with the new car concept this season, but the encountered problems were worse than expected. The team’s car, the A524, had more exposed carbon at its launch, which raised concerns about exceeding the minimum weight limit. Although Alpine introduced a new lighter chassis at the Chinese Grand Prix to address this issue, Ocon revealed that weight remains a problem. Ocon and his teammate Pierre Gasly have taken turns accepting the weight disadvantage, and Ocon believes that was the reason for his early exit in the Q1 session in Montreal.
Despite the challenges, Ocon managed to deliver an impressive performance during the race, climbing from 18th position on the grid to finish in 10th place. However, he expressed frustration with Alpine’s decision not to swap cars at the end of the race. Ocon had given up his ninth position to allow Gasly to chase Daniel Ricciardo, but he felt that the team’s decision was inexplicable and unfair. He stated that he has always respected the instructions given to him as a driver, but believes that the team did not fulfill their part of the job in this case.
The boss of Alpine, Bruno Famin, downplayed any suggestion of a collapse within the team, explaining that using team orders is never an easy choice for any driver. Famin stated that they made the decision for the benefit of the team, as Ocon was struggling with energy management and the risk of being overtaken by Haas cars was high. Famin acknowledged that drivers may express their frustrations immediately after the race, but believes they will have a different perspective on the matter the next day.
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