F1 News
Alpine has lost even more ground: 'Now we have to find an answer'
- GPblog.com
For Esteban Ocon and Alpine the Bahrain Grand Prix was not the start they were hoping for. The French team is setting all its sights on 2022, but it must have hoped for more in 2021. Ocon, however, says that they know where the problem lies.
Pressure on Ocon
Renault has made great strides since its return to Formula 1. It climbed up to fourth place in the Constructors' standings, but then stalled. As a manufacturer it would have liked to have made the step towards Ferrari, Red Bull Racing and Mercedes, but instead it fell behind Racing Point and McLaren.
A new name and new management will not do wonders in 2021, as the upward trend continues. In 2021 also Ferrari and AlphaTauri seem to be faster than Alpine, and Aston Martin picked up their first point in Bahrain, where Alpine stayed at zero.
Alpine falling behind
''We have to make sure we get the most out of the car to get points every time. We know where we are lacking at the moment and we know how we can improve. We know what's wrong and it's up to us to find an answer to that,'' Ocon told Motorsport.com. The Frenchman qualified in sixteenth place and came in the race no further than thirteenth.
''At the moment everyone is slower and we certainly are if we compare it to last year. We know where we can find time and we have a way to get the lap times down again. We have spotted where it is and now we have to implement it,'' concludes the Alpine driver who did see his teammate, Fernando Alonso, drive in the points for a long time.