General
Ocon on Alonso: "There are no issues at all"
- GPblog.com
Esteban Ocon says he has a 'good relationship' with Fernando Alonso. However, the Alpine driver believes his new team-mate may come up against some drawbacks during the 2021 season. Alonso has been out of the race for a number of years and the coronavirus means he cannot visit the factory as often as he used to.
“I have a great relationship with Fernando and a lot of respect for him as well. I get on well with him, so there are no issues there at all," Ocon told GP Racing magazine when asked about his expectations of the partnership. In 2017 and 2018, the Frenchman already drove against his new teammate in Formula 1. Alonso then raced for the ailing McLaren.
Disadvantages for Alonso
The two-time world champion finds himself in a situation that is familiar to Ocon. Last year, he joined Renault (now Alpine) after a one-year sabbatical and Alonso is now doing exactly the same. "Being out for a year, and then coming back into a new team is not an easy thing…", says the 24-year-old driver. Ocon has often said that it took several Grand Prix before he felt completely at ease in the car.
And then there was the added disadvantage, which Alonso will undoubtedly also suffer from. “It has been a very tough season in that we couldn’t go as much as we wanted to the factory to analyse, to do simulator correlation and preparation for races. Because of travel restrictions, quarantine rules and so on, I probably spent 50% less time at the factory, on the sim, than I otherwise would," Ocon concluded.