"Why not us?" - Esteban Ocon hopeful of Alpine emulating McLaren’s F1 success and turning things around

Esteban Ocon is optimistic for Alpine to push themselves out of the midfield, analyzing the impressive progress that McLaren has made so far in the season.

Alpine has had a tricky season in 2023. Their goal of being one of the top teams in F1 seems to be further away as they have hardly pushed themselves out of the midfield.

McLaren and Aston Martin, the two teams that were close to them earlier, developed enough to get much ahead. While the latter had a very strong start to the season, McLaren proved themselves in the second half with their drivers being within the top five multiple times.

Alpine's driver Esteban Ocon, who has scored 46 points so far, felt that the team could also develop how McLaren did. He was confident to push the team out of the midfield and become one of the fastest on the grid, as Motorsportweek quoted him saying:

"I think there’s no jealousy. No, like, – oh sh*t, they’ve done a really good job. To me, it’s more like – oh, they’ve done it, so it is possible."

"So fair play. Admiration for the work that they’ve done. And [it shows] it is possible to get out of the midfield, because they’ve done so. So why not us?" he added.

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Esteban Ocon's teammate 'knew' it wasn't going to be easy racing with him

The French team has an all-French lineup this season with Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon behind the wheel.

The two were together in the karting days and share a history of rivalry. Gasly, who raced previously for AlphaTauri, was Fernando Alonso's replacement in the team as he made his way to the Aston Martin garage.

When this pairing was announced for the season, fans were sketchy about the time they shared as teammates. So was Gasly, as he revealed while attending the Beyond the Grid podcast:

"I knew that it would not be easy. but at the same time I knew that we had grown up a lot. I was a little worried about how he would welcome me and work with me."

"I’ve known Esteban since a long time, so I know how we work. We have different personalities; we’re just two different types of people, but ultimately I think we’ve been working really well. I think we understood the responsibility," he added.

Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly together have scored 108 points so far in the season, enough to keep them locked in sixth position in the standings. While the team would have expected to score more, Ocon's optimism is strong towards their development.