Ocon expectant: 'Fighting up with the top cars and top teams'

Esteban Ocon experienced his highlight of 2021 at the Hungarian Grand Prix last season by winning the race. The victory has given the Frenchman the confidence he needs to demand even more from the team and himself.

Ocon formed an excellent pairing with Fernando Alonso at Alpine last calendar year. Together, they managed to score 155 points, which enabled Alpine to beat AlphaTauri in the Constructors' Championship. Next season, however, he wants to raise the bar even higher.

With the new regulations, Alpine should be able to fight itself to the front and bring in more points. Although it still seems difficult to compete with top teams like Mercedes and Red Bull Racing, Ocon is not giving up. In conversation with RACER, he shows his self-confidence: "We can be fighting up there with the top cars and the top teams without being afraid."

The French driver believes that last season did the team well. That would be partly due to the good races, which means that the team now realizes what it is capable of. "We know how it feels and we don’t have as much pressure. We can just do our job and make it happen."