Esteban Ocon hopes his third-place finish in Monaco will be the “first of many” podiums in 2023.
The Frenchman produced a brilliant lap in qualifying to take P3 on the grid and then held off Carlos Sainz initially, followed by Lewis Hamilton in the closing stages to claim just his third podium finish in F1.
The result was the perfect response by Alpine after scathing criticism by CEO Laurent Rossi in Miami, and Ocon is keen to see the team push on in the coming races.
“Everyone was giving their maximum for it to happen and everyone at the team deserves what happened last weekend,” he said on Thursday in Spain.
“All the hard work has paid off, it shows we can be there and it gives everyone more hunger to keep that going.
“Now that we’ve tasted it, we always need to aim to make it happen again, so I’m hoping it’s the first of many this season. That’s what we need to look at, I’m not saying that’s what’s going to happen.
“Obviously, feet to the ground coming to this weekend [in Spain], it’s going to be a good test to see where the car is exactly after putting all these upgrades on it. It’s a track that everyone knows super well, so I’m looking forward to testing that.
“I’m trusting the plan of Laurent Rossi and [Renault Group CEO] Luca de Meo, they are very competitive people, and I’m fully onboard with the 100-race target plan that they have.”
That 100-race plan is to make Alpine regular race winners in F1 and will likely expire during 2025.
But Sporting Director Alan Permane boldly believes the Enstone-based outfit is already placing itself among the top teams on the grid.
“I don’t think this is a Monaco special car, it is just the upgrades we put on for Imola and also for here… the car is working well,” he claimed.
“I fully expect to be in front of Mercedes and with Ferrari at the next race [in Spain]. Max [Verstappen] is too far away, and when Checo [Sergio Perez] is on his game, he will be as well.
“Fernando [Alonso] is going to be very difficult but I don’t see why we can’t race with Ferrari and Mercedes, which we have done [in Monaco] and as we did do in Miami as well.
“They were quicker than us ultimately, but we were in a race with them. That is where we are aiming for.”
