Esteban Ocon finds 'good satisfaction' in finishing ahead of Fernando Alonso in 2022 F1 standings

Esteban Ocon takes great satisfaction in the fact that he outscored Fernando Alonso at Alpine. The young Alpine driver teamed up with an F1 legend in Alonso and he ended the 2022 F1 season outscoring him and becoming only the second driver since Jenson Button to do so as a teammate.

Having said that, Fernando Alonso suffered from a plethora of reliability issues all season and was quite vocal about it as well. Esteban Ocon, however, did not buy into all of that as the Alpine driver also had to tackle similar problems during the season. Speaking to Motorsport, he said:

"I had my issues too. 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. To finish in front of him is good satisfaction this year."

The French driver admitted that while Alpine was able to beat McLaren, it wasn't always straightforward. McLaren held the edge at the start of the season and only after Alpine was able to claw back the advantage did Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso fully exploit the car and score some points. He said:

"We were the fourth-best team, yes, but McLaren were very fast at times, and they outscored us in the beginning of the season. So, it was not that straightforward in the first part of the year. I think it does. The only thing that I missed this year is in the end a podium. But for different circumstances we didn’t get those, but hopefully we can get some of that next year."

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We accomplished all our targets: Esteban Ocon

Esteban Ocon was happy that Alpine was able to accomplish all the goals that it had set for itself. Hoping that the French outfit could take the next step and start closing the gap to the front, he said:

"All the targets that we set ourselves are accomplished. We finished fourth in the constructors’ championship. It is also my best season in Formula 1 in terms of points. I'm very pleased with that, good job by the whole team to have developed the car so much, and over the year. Hopefully we can close even more the gap for next year."

Ocon will team up with Pierre Gasly next season in an all-French line-up. It will be interesting to see how the French squad fares in the absence of Fernando Alonso.