Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi has revealed that he once described Esteban Ocon as “an excellent second driver” and claimed the Frenchman has now turned into a true team leader. Ocon joined Renault in 2020 after spending a year as Mercedes reserve. Racing alongside Daniel Ricciardo that year, he struggled in the early stages of the campaign with his team before scoring his first podium at the penultimate Sakhir GP.
After a strong start to the 2021 season, winning the Hungarian Grand Prix, Ocon signed a three-year contract with the Enstone team. However, while the contract extension was legitimate in Laurent Rossi’s view, Alpine bosses questioned Ocon’s true potential at the time, saying of the young driver: “There is no guarantee of a world championship, but at least we can. We have an excellent second driver.” On the ‘Beyond the Grid’ podcast with F1’s Tom Clarkson, Rossi clarifies what he meant by revisiting the statement and explaining how his perception of Ocon has since changed. made it “There is no mystery about the fact that I worked very quickly to make Esteban feel comfortable in the team,” explained Rossi. “Because the boy named Esteban has never taken a straight line. Every year, almost every year, he says, ‘It’s over, it’s over with us, find another job next year.’ It’s been really hard, especially with a job like that you need a little escape, right?” “We have to take comfort in the fact that it has never been easy for him.” “Indeed, the boy has achieved success in every category, with the likes of Max (Verstappen) and Charles (Leclerc) among others. I know I’ve raced with all the current top drivers and I’ve beaten them many times in the past.” It wasn’t very comfortable because you had to keep an eye on your feet all the time, which was important, but if you gave him a little bit of comfort, what would he get out of it? “So I decided to bet on him for three years. To be honest, no one wanted to come to Alpine at the time, so we had to get as good a driver as possible.” I have always said that Esteban is very good, at least as a second driver.”Everyone interpreted it in different ways. But if you ask me, there is no one and two at Ferrari. But I’m sure a lot of people think there’s a two there. “There’s no one or two at Mercedes. It’s hard to figure out who’s a two, to be honest.” I think Esteban will be one of those two guys, whichever he chooses for both teams, and that’s what I meant.” Despite becoming a leader, the French team has no hierarchy as far as drivers are concerned, with Pierre Gasly now sitting across from Alpine’s garage. Rossi explained how Ocon has matured over the last few seasons, racing more efficiently and becoming a driver who can “build things in the long run”. “He’s been driving more efficiently and thinking in the long run. He’s not trying to impress everyone at every race. It’s a very different thing. Because he was taking careless risks, basically driving like that, probably unconsciously, he could have lost his seat in that race,” said Alpine’s chief executive. commented. “So basically it was different. I said to him, ‘You need to grow in a lot of ways and develop the team yourself.’ “You have to be a leader. This is very different from just being a super-fast cool boy.” “Every driver on the grid is racing super fast. No doubt they will be able to beat each other in one lap. Even the last man on the grid, in one lap I’m sure it could be the first, and they’ll admit it.” To bring out is to bring out not just your car, but the factory and the 1,200 people who support you, and that’s another story.” “That’s why I told him to do it. He gave us three years, but in return we promised to work together to take the team to a higher level.”
