Esteban Ocon is keen to carry his ‘positive momentum’ from Bahrain to Saudi Arabia as F1 visits Jeddah for 2022 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
Last weekend saw Ocon enjoy his best-ever start to a new F1 season after he finished seventh in the Bahrain Grand Prix, having qualified 11th after being eliminated in Q2 by just 0.065 seconds.
Ocon though feels positive beyond the fact that it was his highest-placed finish in five season opening races that he has contested in F1, with Alpine teammate – Fernando Alonso finishing ninth to result in a double-points finish for Alpine who struggled in last year’s season opener.
The Frenchman however has urged caution given that the season has only just begun and evolution in competitiveness is expected across the season, as he iterated that his focus will now be “to find those areas of improvement and further understand our new car to stay as competitive as possible.”
This weekend however sees Ocon return to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where he scored a strong fourth-placed finish after being pipped to third at the checkered flag by only 0.112s from having unexpectedly started the second restart from pole position.
Ocon therefore is happy to enjoy a season-opening double-header in the Middle East but iterated that being able “to carry this positive momentum…” into Jeddah will be key to further consolidating their performance potential.
On the prospect on returning to a circuit just three months after he last raced at that venue which made its F1 debut last season, Ocon said: “We raced there not too long ago so the track isn’t as unknown to us drivers as it was last year.
“It’s a fun and fast track, similar to Baku for example, where drivers and cars are pushed to the limit, and one small mistake can really cost you.
“Personally, I really enjoy driving there and just missed out on the podium last year. It will be great to be back and we’ll push for another solid weekend.”
Ocon also noted that Jeddah “is a demanding circuit” to drive given its high-speed characteristics and fast corners constantly surrounding by walls, which will pose tough set-up questions especially for the new cars given the technical regulations revamp over winter.
High Tyre Degradation Intrigues Alonso
Alonso meanwhile was pleased to see Alpine make a step forward with “improvement” in their points haul compared to this stage last season, although he felt that tyre degradation was a concern in Bahrain after struggling to manage his tyres.
The two-time champion though felt that higher tyre degradation was a positive from an on-track spectacle perspective, with “… some more exciting racing for the fans because each car is at a different level of degradation during a Grand Prix,” impacting the competitive order.
On whether he expects Alpine and other teams to get on top of the high tyre wear throughout the season, Alonso commented: We are expecting tyre wear to be an issue throughout the season, but it’s too early to tell if we will experience these problems in Jeddah.
“Whoever can get on top of this issue faster will be in a good position.”
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