Ocon: 'The only thing I missed in the end is a podium'

Esteban Ocon has been looking over his season with Alpine F1 and rated it a success overall, although he regrets not having made it on to the podium during 2022.

Ocon took his maiden win in 2021 with a famous triumph in the Hungarian Grand Prix, but that success didn't prove possible for the 26-year-old French driver to replicate this year, which was dominated by Red Bull and Ferrari.

Other than Mercedes, the team driver to make it on to the podium was McLaren, with Lando Norris finishing third in the Emilia Romagna at Imola.

• Read also: Ocon blasts Alonso - 'The work was 98 per cent on my back'

While Alpine managed to beat McLaren to fourth place in the constructors championship, Ocon's best result was P4 in Japan, and fifth place in Austria.

"It was not that straightforward in the first part of the year," he commented. "We were the fourth-best team, yes, but McLaren were very fast at times, and they outscored us in the beginning of the season."

Overall, Ocon amassed 92 points across the season putting him ahead of team mate Fernando Alonso in the final drivers standings.

"The only thing that I missed this year is in the end a podium," he said. "For different circumstances we didn’t get those, but hopefully we can get some of that next year.

"All the targets that we set ourselves are accomplished," he pointed out. "We finished fourth in the constructors’ championship. It's also my best season in Formula 1 in terms of points.

"I'm very pleased with that. [And] good job by the whole team to have developed the car so much over the year. Hopefully we can close the gap even more for next year."

Ocon was also happy to come out of the season ahead of Alonso. "To finish in front of him is good satisfaction this year.

"It feels good, it feels good I would say. He’s a very, very fast driver. I had to up my game as much as I could."

Alonso would probably have been ahead in the points if not for a string of reliability issues over the course of the season, with the two-time world champion fuming that these only happened to the number 14 car.

But Ocon disagreed, pointing out that "I had my issues too" over the course of the year.

"Early on, we didn't start where we wanted to be," he explained. "We were behind the Haas and Alfa Romeo cars, and our car was not working at its best.

"I quickly found out where the issues were, and we told the team about it, and they managed to translate that into upgrades which really helped.

"With that understanding and at the same time of putting upgrades in, I really feel like I've stepped up."

Alonso has now departed the team and next year will be racing for Aston Martin. His seat at Alpine will be taken by Ocon's compatriot Pierre Gasly, relocating from the AlphaTauri team.

Ocon has set his sights on Alpine not only beating McLaren, but even contending with the top three teams(Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes) on a regular basis.

"Hopefully we can get closer to the front," he told RacingNews365.com. "It is the aim and next year's car in the simulator is very promising at the moment.

"If you keep the regulations the same then at some point every team progresses and hopefully you get closer to the top three," he said. "And we are the next ones in line to get there.

"Obviously we are keeping people on the ground, but it feels like a step in the right direction, and I look forward to seeing what we will be able to do.

Gallery: The beautiful wives and girlfriends of F1 drivers

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter