"The two actually sprinted at each other" - Alpine CEO regards Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon as 'heroes who go nowhere without the team'

Alpine CEO Luca De Meo has nothing but praise for his drivers Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon. The two have been able to maintain a healthy relationship that has propelled the team forward.

De Meo praised them for their synergy. He added that even when they were battling on the track in Saudi Arabia, it was because both had great dynamics between them.

Talking to Corriere dello Sport in this regard, the Alpine CEO said:

“The drivers are heroes who go nowhere without the team. Even when it appeared they were colliding, the two actually sprinted at each other. At least, that's what they both told me: 'We don't think that the first/second driver logic is the right one.'"

With a marauding force of nature like Fernando Alonso joining the team, it was expected that Ocon, a young driver in the sport, might struggle. However, that has not been the case at Alpine thus far. De Meo elaborated:

"On the contrary, right there you can see the team spirit we were talking about. We only had one new fund for Imola and instead of giving it to Ocon, who is leading in the standings, we assigned it to Fernando, who has been unlucky up to now. Last year Esteban saw the collaboration with Alonso as a great opportunity. Classic mechanism of teacher and pupil: an exchange of information that continues."

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Alpine would take a year to get everything in order

Luca De Meo is realistic on the timeline about Alpine challenging at the front. He touched on the fact that the team has just been put together, and new members like Otmar Szafneur have just joined. So it would take some time for the team to gel and work together.

De Meo feels it should take till the 2023 season for the team to start challenging at the front, saying:

“There are more development resources over the course of the season and a better structured organization. We have brought in or moved important figures such as Harman, Szafnauer, Famin, Pat Fry. I figured it would take a year to put the deck in order."

He continued:

"We weren't getting confused, we always had a project: to set up a homogeneous team. That was what we probably lacked in the beginning. The label of aspirants in third place is stuck on us from the outside."

The team has started the season on a positive note but unreliability and misfortune has pushed the team into sixth position in the constructors' standings. It will be interesting to see how the new teams develops this season.