Esteban Ocon has praised the relationship he shares with his Alpine team-mate Fernando Alonso and says the two drivers “complement each other.”
The duo are heading into their second season as team-mates after Alonso returned to the sport for the 2021 campaign.
Despite the 15-year age gap between the two drivers, their relationship has blossomed and Ocon’s surprise win in Hungary last season demonstrated that.
The Frenchman’s victory was in no small part thanks to Alonso who used every bit of his 21 years’ worth of experience to protect his team-mate.
With Lewis Hamilton gaining on Alonso who sat in third, the Spaniard produced some excellent defensive driving to slow the Briton and allow Ocon, who was leading, to maintain the gap.
The Frenchman was able to hold off Sebastian Vettel in second and celebrated his win by being lifted into the air by Alonso after the race.
Find yourself a friend who lifts you up like @alo_oficial ?#HungarianGP ?? #F1 @OconEsteban pic.twitter.com/rtFjSYvbCt
— Formula 1 (@F1) August 1, 2021
That good relationship has continued and now as the team prepares for the 2022 season, Ocon says the two are working in tandem in order to get the most out of the Alpine car.
“We complement each other,” the Alpine driver told French TV show Canal Sports Club. “We don’t give each other advice, we work together.
“If I try a setup on the car and it works, there will be no secrets. It will be on the table, we will discuss it.
“If we have a question for each other, we tell the truth.
“We’re not fighting for the championship together. If that happens, it might be closer.
“For the moment, it’s not the case. It’s great to work with a double World Champion.
“For me, to be with him in this team is a great opportunity.”
Alonso has also show his admiration for Ocon and spoke highly of him following his Hungary win.
“I’m super, super happy,” Alonso told Formula1.com.
“Not only for Esteban, because it is a day that he will never forget, the first victory. But for the guys, all the people in Enstone, in Viry, they’re working flat-out and the results are not easy to come by.
“We’re in a very, very tough and competitive environment in Formula 1, so to have this kind of result is a motivation for everybody.”
The team ran reasonably well in Barcelona last week, completing plenty of laps and reportedly hiding some performance up their sleeve heading onwards to three days of official testing in Bahrain.
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