Formula 1
Ocon: "Fighting spirit" Alpine’s big strength in battle for fifth
Esteban Ocon believes Alpine’s “fighting spirit” will be its biggest strength in the battle for fifth place in the Formula 1 constructors’ championship against Aston Martin and AlphaTauri.
Luke Smith Oleg Karpov
Edited: Aug 4, 2021, 9:20 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
With McLaren and Ferrari already far clear in the fight for third, it has left Alpine, Aston Martin and AlphaTauri separated by just nine points in the race for P5.
AlphaTauri currently sits fifth, one point clear of Aston Martin, with both teams having already scored podium finishes this year. Alpine is a further eight points back in seventh.
Alpine has now shifted full focus to the development of its 2022 car, anticipating the overhaul of the technical regulations next year, leaving it to try and maximise its current package.
Ocon said that the competitive order in the fight for fifth was “pretty much how it is now”, but made clear Alpine would not back down and keep battling hard.
“I think our strength is going to be probably our fighting spirit, because we are not always the fastest of that group,” Ocon acknowledged.
“AlphaTauri have been a little bit faster than we were. Aston Martin are also quite fast and giving us a hard time in most places.
“But we are going to fight them until the end. And it's going to be only the one that scores consistently throughout the year, little points by little points, who are going to finish in that fifth position.
“There's still a long way to go. So we're ready to fight.”
Read Also:
- Ocon confident Alpine has solved problem on his F1 car
- Alonso feels like 25 ahead of turning 40 in Hungary
Alpine has scored points in all but one race so far this year, but has failed to finish any higher than sixth, recorded by Fernando Alonso in Azerbaijan.
The team heads into this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix looking to build on its first double-score of the season at Silverstone earlier this month, when Alonso and Ocon finished P7 and P9.
Ocon was upbeat about his chances of a good result in Budapest, calling the Hungaroring “one of my favourite circuits.”
“It's one track that I really enjoy,” Ocon said.
“There's a lot of combination of corners. Tyres are going to be quite important to get right. And yeah, tyre usage, good confidence in the car, all of this is gonna be mega important.
“So hopefully we can get the maximum out of it there as well and get some more points.”
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Has Formula 1 ever increased a penalty after an appeal?
Next article Verstappen's F1 engine set for Hungary practice checks
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Luke Smith
1998 Belgian GP: When the Schumachers went to war
Formula 1
Formula 1 Jul 22, 2025
1998 Belgian GP: When the Schumachers went to war
The race that transformed perceptions of Red Bull
Formula 1
Formula 1 Apr 19, 2023
The race that transformed perceptions of Red Bull
Hamilton in the process of selecting Brad Pitt’s co-star for F1 movie
Formula 1
Formula 1 Feb 18, 2023
Hamilton in the process of selecting Brad Pitt’s co-star for F1 movie
More from
Esteban Ocon
Fred Vasseur personally contributed $1m to Esteban Ocon’s first F1 drive
Formula 1
Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
6 d
Fred Vasseur personally contributed $1m to Esteban Ocon’s first F1 drive
Ayao Komatsu: Esteban Ocon axing ‘surprised everybody at Haas’
Formula 1
Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
6 d
Ayao Komatsu: Esteban Ocon axing ‘surprised everybody at Haas’
More from
Alpine
"Colapinto never hit the apex" – Audi's take on contentious Nico Hulkenberg penalty in Brazilian GP
Formula 1
Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
2 d
"Colapinto never hit the apex" – Audi's take on contentious Nico Hulkenberg penalty in Brazilian GP
A fond farewell to a few WEC favourites
WEC
Monza
A fond farewell to a few WEC favourites
Pierre Gasly on Franco Colapinto fan pressure: “Once you deal with Helmut Marko, anything else is no pressure”
Formula 1
Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
5 d
Pierre Gasly on Franco Colapinto fan pressure: “Once you deal with Helmut Marko, anything else is no pressure”
Latest news
“I was getting beat up” – How Daniel Ricciardo burned out on ‘humiliating’ F1 return
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1 46 min
“I was getting beat up” – How Daniel Ricciardo burned out on ‘humiliating’ F1 return
Myers Riley Motorsports adds Andretti alongside returning Fraga for 2027 IMSA GTD campaign
IMSA
IMSA IMSA 1 h
Myers Riley Motorsports adds Andretti alongside returning Fraga for 2027 IMSA GTD campaign
Las Vegas GP reveals neon sign-inspired trophy design
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Las Vegas GP
1 h
Las Vegas GP reveals neon sign-inspired trophy design
Feature
Discover prime content
Top 10 F1 cars of the 1970s
Formula 1
By Kevin Turner
Top 10 F1 cars of the 1970s
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe