Esteban Ocon remains confident Alpine will be a championship-contending team in Formula 1 in the future.
The Frenchman joined the Enstone-based outfit for its last year as Renault in 2020 following a year out as Mercedes reserve.
So far, the main highlight has been Ocon winning last year’s Hungarian Grand Prix in dramatic fashion and he is sure more successful days are around the corner.
“I think we do, yeah and I would not be here if I didn’t trust that,” he told the Beyond the Grid podcast on if Alpine can fight for titles in F1.
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“You know, my aim is to be World Champion one day, I’m not here to sit around and just participate in the race. I mean, for that, it doesn’t matter to me.
“No, what I want is to create more memories, like we got that win in Budapest [in 2021], that podium in Bahrain, that podium in Qatar, with Fernando [Alonso].
“I mean, if you ask Fernando, he will be the same and that is the ambitions of Laurent Rossi [Alpine CEO], of Luca de Meo [Renault CEO] and Otmar Szafnauer [Alpine team boss] as well.
“They share those ambitions, and they want to progress and get to the top and it’s not the same in every team. And yeah, I’m fully on board with that project.”
Ocon is also keen to see teammate Alonso remain at Alpine beyond 2022, noting how his relationship with the double world champion has been very different to what some expected.
“Being a teammate of Fernando is great,” he told DAZN. “I think we make a good partnership and I really enjoy working with him.
“When he joined the team, I was told by a lot of people that it would be very difficult but all these things are not true at all.
“Fernando doesn’t have to prove anything. If he wants to continue in Formula 1, he will stay,” he insisted. “He’s still motivated and he’s the lion he always was.”
A fact Alonso proved by qualifying second on the grid in the wet qualifying in Canada.
As for this season, Alpine currently sit fifth in the Constructors’ standings with a pair of sixth places being Ocon’s best results so far.