Alpine hope to see the “real potential” of Esteban Ocon in his second year back in Formula 1 and up against Fernando Alonso.
Last year, the Frenchman wasn’t terrible as he returned to the grid following a year out, but rarely beat teammate Daniel Ricciardo, finishing 57 points behind the Australian.
There were highlights, notably finishing second at the Sakhir Grand Prix, but Ocon now faces the biggest challenge of his F1 career up against Alonso.
“We have a very interesting combination of drivers, I like it,” Alpine racing director Davide Brivio told Spain’s AS.
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“The two left F1 and both came back. Esteban has that year of an advantage with the team and the car, now we can see his real potential.
“With Fernando, I see a fit driver, motivated. It is very positive for the team to have this type of driver who encourages everyone to give their best because that is what he is going to give.
“We are sure Fernando will have good results and I expect the same from Esteban.”
Given he has youth and recent experience on his side, Ocon should arguably beat Alonso if he wants to prove he belongs in the Verstappen/Leclerc/Russell bracket among the next generation of drivers.
And he is keen to take his performance to the next level.
“We’ve seen that it’s not easy to switch teams and on top of that, I had a year off so I had to get back up to speed, and also learn to work with a new team,” he said looking back on last year.
“So I’m definitely aiming to do a bit like what Daniel did for his second year at Renault, which is step up and continue the progress that we have been doing this year.
“That is definitely the aim.”