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Esteban Ocon has said that he still has links with Mercedes even though he has now moved to Alpine.
The French driver had been a part of the Mercedes driver academy. After a year away from F1 in 2019, he got a chance to race for Renault and that's where he finds himself these.days.
In an interview with Motorsport.com, Ocon said that he still has links with Mercedes and their team boss Toto Wolff.
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“Yes, we feel, we talk, also because in the management of my career Gwen Lagrue always helps me, a manager who also works with Mercedes," said Ocon. "So there is still this connection, even though I am an Alpine rider and my work is here today. I have a good contract that expires at the end of 2024 and a very interesting future awaits me ”.
Ocon's team, Alpine, are fourth in the standings and doing a great job. The French driver feels positive things could be on the way for the team, considering their trajectory this year. He said:
“If I think back to the difficulties we had in the Barcelona and Bahrain tests, I believe that in the end the balance is positive. At the beginning of the season the car was difficult to drive and very heavy, but race after race the improvement was impressive, resulting in an overall better car than last year."
He continued:
"I am happy to have contributed to this step forward, giving the right feedback to the engineers, and I am also optimistic because there are still some news that we will bring to the track in this season finale. Obviously this positive trend also gives me confidence in view of 2023 ”.
Ocon (66) is eighth in the driver standings, with his best result of fifth coming at the Austrian GP.
Esteban Ocon's relationship with Fernando Alonso
Esteban Ocon said that despite perceptions of getting dominated by his outgoing teammate Fernando Alonso, he's happy with how things have panned out.
“Yes, I heard it too, but I'm still here,," said Ocon. "It is a nice comparison what we started last year both in qualifying and in the race. Fernando is very, very fast, I don't think he has anything to prove to anyone, and to those who say 'who knows how much you learned with Fernando' I answer 'certainly', but I hope he too has learned something from me ”.
Ocon leads Alonso in the championship by seven points.
