Ocon: Alpine must 'take bigger points' on race day

Esteban Ocon is satisfied with Alpine's current level of performance but insists the Enstone squad must capitalize more on opportunities that come its way and score more points on race day.

After a subdued start to its 2023 campaign that triggered a serious reprimand from Alpine chief Laurent Rossi, the team has stepped up its performance in the past four races.

Ocon has enjoyed consecutive top-ten finishes since round 5 in Miami, but the Frenchman's podium in Monaco was a standout performance for the 26-year-old.

On the other side of the 'Bleus' garage, Pierre Gasly also scored points in Miami, Monaco and Spain but suffered a difficult weekend in Canada.

Nevertheless, Ocon believes there's no reason why the team can't continue its run of form this week at the Red Bull Ring and next week at Silverstone.

"I'm definitely feeling good and ready for the next European double header in Austria and Great Britain," commented Oocn in Alpine's Austrian Grand Prix preview.

"I think since Baku we’ve been having quite strong Saturdays and have managed to convert that level of performance into a reasonable outcome on Sundays.

• Read also: Rossi details Alpine spending plan after €200m equity raise

"We’re satisfied with our performance at the moment, but it’s still not where we want to be and we must capitalise more on opportunities and take bigger points on race day.

"The team across both Enstone and Viry has done a very good job with the car and the upgrades that we are able to bring to the track week in, week out.

"We have a good package that is able to compete with the teams in front, and we must make the most of everything if we want to reach our ambitious goals by the end of the season."

However, Ocon underscored the necessity for Alpine to put together more "straightforward" race weekends in order to exploit the A523's potential and achieve the team's basic objectives.

"I think that we should be confident coming into this weekend at this track," he added. "We have consistently been in Q3 this season and last year we finished fifth in the race at Red Bull Ring.

"Both Pierre and I are feeling good and we know we have a car that performs well, we just need to demonstrate that with more straightforward weekends as we know both cars can end up with strong points for the team.

"I personally feel refreshed and ready to attack this weekend and I am looking forward to the Sprint race where more points are on offer, which is always a good opportunity."

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