The start of this Formula 1 world championship gave us many ideas and above all told us some important stories. However, those that ended up in all the newspapers also due to the logic of results are those that concern the winners. The cannibalistic start of Max Verstappen and Red Bull, for example, Carlos Sainz’s victory in Australia and now Lando Norris’s first career victory in Miami. A story that is little talked about is that of Esteban Ocon’s desire to never give up. A desire that led him to a first important result, after a dramatic start to the championship for him and his entire team.
Alpine’s first point of the season
Esteban Ocon’s tenth place in the race in Miami gave oxygen to the entire Alpine team. A team that seemed relegated to closing the group. The A524 car is not meeting expectations and we have said this widely. The changes at the top of the French company demonstrate how there is a state of confusion which then spills over into the men who go to the circuits. Stability could be found through this point achieved, as if to make it clear that the path taken is the right one even if the bar needs to be raised higher and higher. The bar began to rise with the first updates that arrived in Suzuka for the Japanese GP.
In reality, Japan was not very positive for the transalpine team, which saw its two standard-bearers fighting for fifteenth place. The Japanese weekend had caused quite a bad mood inside the garage, risking making the situation even worse. China, however, highlighted the change in trend, positioning the two Alpine standard bearers on the edge of the points zone. So there has been growth in the A524, but what seems even more evident is that one of the two drivers seems to be better off with the single-seater. Esteban Ocon is, without a shadow of a doubt, the man who is best embracing the cause of the French company.
Esteban Ocon has always believed in it
The first point scored in Miami could only come from Esteban Ocon, given that the driver from Évreux has always believed in the potential of the car. Ocon always spoke positively or, rather, he always tried to see the best that was gathered with his statements. Thanks to this vision of him, Esteban has beaten his teammate Pierre Gasly on 5 out of 6 occasions at the start of the season. This is proof of how the pilot really wants to embody and make himself the spirit of Alpine. He feels part of the project, a project that currently needs to be rebuilt and he seems to want to take responsibility for it.
Esteban Ocon is fighting like a true warrior, just look at his weekends. Weekend certainly out of the limelight, given the car, but his way of doing things tells us how he is sacrificing a lot for Alpine. That Alpine with which he won his first and to date one race in Formula 1, that Alpine which, when the doors seemed to be closing for him in the top automotive championship, gave him the chance to return. A combination therefore that seems to have a strong emotional connection. Tenth place on American soil shouldn’t be the point of arrival, but Ocon knows this well.
Alpine hopes for a Gasly ready to reply to Esteban Ocon
The big loser in the Miami GP race is certainly Pierre Gasly. Gasly was the driver everyone relied on, especially at home. This year, however, the comparison with his teammate appears very emblematic. Now Pierre will necessarily have to answer to Esteban Ocon, he will necessarily have to prove himself part of the project again. All this could turn into an advantage for Alpine, which, seeing its other motivated standard bearer, could improve its results. Ocon will certainly want to continue to stay ahead of Gasly. Miami, therefore, could have opened a new chapter of the Alpine season, that of rebirth.
PHOTO: BWT Alpine f1 social media
