F1 News: Alpine Boss Claims Esteban Ocon Needs To "Make Better Judgements" When Racing Against Teammates
Alpine team principal Otmar Szafnauer has revealed he feels Esteban Ocon needs to "make better judgements when his teammates are next to him".
Szafnauer worked has worked with the Frenchman for a number of years when he drove for Force India/Racing Point in 2017-2018 when he had many collisions with teammate Sergio Perez. And also last year when Ocon was racing alongside two-time champion Fernando Alonso, we saw friction between the two.
Ocon will be racing alongside Pierre Gasly in the 2023 season after he made the move from AlphaTauri to take Alonso's spot on the team. Talking about Ocon, Szafnauer explained:
"He needs to probably make better judgements when his teammates are next to him, because you don't win it on the first lap, teammate or not.
“And if you're aggressive against a competitor, and you both go out, you both lose. If you're aggressive against the teammate, and you both go out, guess who loses? So it's just that better judgement, and get them later."
When quizzed on whether there have been conversations behind closed doors on this with Ocon, Szafnauer responded:
"It was. If we need reminders, I'm happy to remind him."
Szafnauer went on to add that although Ocon still has some improvements to make, he has made a huge amount of progress from when he first worked with him. He said:
"He's definitely more mature. He's got a better understanding. I think the thing that really pleases me about Esteban is that under pressure, he often does not make a mistake. I've seen it with him when he won against Vettel. I was there, we had a faster car. And he did not make a mistake.
“He placed his car, driving in his mirrors in the right place, not one mistake, to take the win. I think it was even more impressive for me in wet conditions, drying in Suzuka, not an easy track to drive, with Lewis behind you, in a quicker car the entire time, and you finish ahead of him.
“That to me is impressive. So he's matured, he's got better from that regard. And he is fast. Can he make improvements? Yeah, we will work on getting him better in some areas."