ALPINE BELIEVES OCON CAN STEP UP IN 2023 AND LEAD THE SQUAD
Alpine Formula 1 team principal Otmar Szafnauer thinks that current driver Esteban Ocon can step up and lead the squad next season.
The Frenchman is likely to be the most experienced racer in the line-up following Fernando Alonso’s recent announcement that he will switch to Aston Martin in 2023.
Szafnauer said: “Esteban is a super talent. I worked with him at Force India and those were the days of Sergio Perez as his team-mate. And he was as quick as Sergio and raced Sergio hard, and if you remember those days, they were always together on the grid. And sometimes they even came together in the races! And we see what Sergio is capable of.
“Can he lead the team? For sure he’s getting better and better. He’s got a race win under his belt. He’s scored good points for us this year. And he’ll learn more by the time we get to next year.”
Alpine is still in a battle to retain the services of its junior driver Oscar Piastri, who is also being chased by McLaren as a 2023 replacement for Daniel Ricciardo.