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Preview of Formula 1 in 2021: Now or never for Ocon
In Formula 1, your most important opponent is your teammate and so at GPblog, we look ahead to the team duels in 2021. Which drivers will compete and what can we expect from that duel? In the sixth part, we go through the Alpine line-up.
Fernando Alonso
He's back! Fernando Alonso was unable to say goodbye to Formula 1 when he left the sport at the end of the 2018 season. The two-time world champion announced in 2020 that he would return to the premier class of motorsport in 2021 with his old love Renault (Alpine).
Alonso knows Alpine through and through. The Spaniard won his two titles in 2005 and 2006 when the team was still called Renault. He left the team for McLaren in 2007 and then returned in 2008.
Despite the fact that Alonso has not raced in Formula 1 for two years, he has not been idle. He failed to win the Indy 500, but he does return to F1 with two 24 Hours of Le Mans victories and a WEC title in his pocket. He also won the 24 Hours of Daytona in 2019 and even a Dakar Rally adventure was not too crazy for Alonso.
Esteban Ocon
Esteban Ocon will start his fourth full Formula 1 season in 2021. The Frenchman entered F1 mid-season in 2016 by taking over from Rio Haryanto at Manor. He did much better than his predecessor with that team and when Nico Hulkenberg moved from Force India to Renault, Force India saw a good replacement for the German in Ocon.
Ocon drove for Force India for two years, which continued as Racing Point in mid-2018 and did well. The young Frenchman was regularly found in the points and often made it difficult for his teammate Sergio Perez. At the end of 2018, Ocon was pushed aside for Lance Stroll.
For 2019, Ocon did not find a seat in F1, so he remained a test driver at Mercedes. Renault saw something in the French driver and therefore stole Ocon away from Mercedes. In 2020 Daniel Ricciardo was his teammate. Ricciardo was a size too big for Ocon, but improvements were clear towards the end of the season with a second-place finish in Sakhir as the highlight.
The forecast for 2021
It will be an exciting battle between Alonso and Ocon. Alonso is 39 years old and seems to have already had his best years, while Ocon is still young and should grow a lot next season. For Alpine, it would be great if Ocon learns a lot from Alonso so that he can take over as team leader in the near future.
Both drivers are fighters in heart and soul and will not give each other an inch of space when they meet each other on the track. We have seen this in the past. At Force India, Ocon and Perez managed to find each other regularly and touch each other, although Ocon seems a lot less aggressive than he was three years ago.
Alonso is still guessing. Did he do well to drive in other classes for two years? How quickly does the two-time world champion get used to the new cars? And will we still see him at his old level? Ocon has a year of experience with the car, while Alonso has only driven a number of tests. That is why Ocon should be faster than his teammate fifteen years older. If not, Alpine may already be looking for a replacement.
This article was written and originally published by Bonne on the Dutch edition of GPblog.com.