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Esteban Ocon Explains His Big Difference to Fernando Alonso in Sochi

Published 10/06/2021, 2:50 AM EDT

The Russian Grand Prix didn’t really go well for Esteban Ocon, especially when compared to his Alpine teammate, Fernando Alonso. Ocon was a long way behind Alonso in terms of pace, being second best in qualifying and in the race. On Saturday, Ocon finished in P10, whereas Alonso was 4 places up at P6.

Meanwhile, on race day, Alonso managed to retain his P6 spot, but Ocon fell down to P14. However, Ocon says that the reason behind this is that he and his teammate Alonso had completely different setups at the Russian Grand Prix.

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Different setups for the two Alpine Cars the reason for Ocon’s bad result in Russia

After the race, Esteban Ocon revealed that the Alpine pair had different setups because they had given different feedback to the team earlier during the weekend.

📰 | Esteban Ocon believes he struggled at the Russian GP because he used his own setup, as opposed to using the setup suggested by Alonso.
— formularacers (@formularacers_) October 5, 2021

“You know, the cars were very similar in terms of set-up in the last three or four races, practically identical,” he said after the race.

“But in this race, there has been a big deviation because we did not give the same feedback, we did not have the same comments.”

“So yeah, we have a couple of ideas on what it could be. We’re just looking to fix it for the next race.”

Esteban Ocon adds to the confusion about the setups

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Ocon also admitted that he was confused a bit because, in terms of driving alone, he felt that it was as good as it has been throughout the season. The car felt similar to what it had felt like during the previous rounds in Italy and Netherlands, where he was much closer to Alonso.

“I mean, I felt good at the wheel, as I did at Monza or Zandvoort. So no, there is no particular reason for me,” he added.

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As 2021 has been a very good season for him with consistent points finishes and a maiden Grand Prix victory at the Hungaroring, Sochi was definitely a weekend to forget for Esteban Ocon.

Ocon mentioned that this race has been one of the low points in the season, but he is confident that he will be able to bounce back in Turkey.

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Written by:

Riddhi Mondal is an F1 Author at EssentiallySports. Having previously worked as a student reporter at The Statesman, she is an ardent follower of all things F1. A nerd through and through, the complicated physics that goes into the cars is what drew Riddhi to the sport.

Esteban Ocon Explains His Big Difference to Fernando Alonso in Sochi

Different setups for the two Alpine Cars the reason for Ocon’s bad result in Russia

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Esteban Ocon adds to the confusion about the setups