After enjoying a strong start to the 2022 F1 season, Alpine’s Esteban Ocon is anticipating more ‘good battles’ at this weekend’s 2022 Australian Grand Prix.
Ocon has enjoyed his best start to a F1 season after just two races as he currently sits sixth in the drivers’ standings, having finished seventh and sixth in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia respectively which he feels is “a very positive start” as he continues to understand the “competitive” Alpine A522.
This weekend however sees F1 head back to Melbourne, Australia, for the first time since a failed attempt to race in 2020, with the race weekend cancelled just hours before FP1 due to the Coronavirus pandemic which Ocon described as “very bizarre circumstances” on reflection.
Ocon though is happy to finally get back racing in “a cool city” like Melbourne despite recording just one point in two previous visits, which came on his Force India debut in 2017 before finishing 12th a year later.
Like all drivers, Ocon will have to adapt to various track changes which includes the removal of Turns Nine and 10, alongside various tweaks to other corners around the circuit which the Frenchman believe “are actually pretty significant,” but great for improved speeds in corners.
Ocon therefore expects quicker lap times despite the race distance remaining at 58 laps as he explained: “These types of changes will mean the lap times should be several seconds faster this year, compared to the last time we completed a lap at that track.
“With these changes and the new generation of cars, it should make for an exciting race and some good battles on track. We are excited and can’t wait to get our first taste of it in real life on Friday morning.”
Fernando Alonso meanwhile will be eager to bounce back from a water pump failure in Saudi Arabia as he prepares for his 17th Australian Grand Prix, with the two-time champion intrigued by the possible effects of the race taking place in April rather than in its traditional March slot.
On the latest track layout tweaks given his experience around the former circuit design, Alonso commented: “I like the track and whilst it’s quite difficult to overtake the changes have been made to encourage this, so we’ll see how it all plays out.
“I think it’s clear we won’t see the same level of overtakes as we witnessed in Bahrain and Saudi, but with these news cars it seems easier to follow, so in theory it should be easier to try overtakes here than it was in the past.”
Alpine Reserve Driver and Melbourne-born, Oscar Piastri who has turned 21 today also chipped in with his views on the track changes of his home circuit, as he iterated that teams and fans should expect the lap “to be a lot quicker than the old layout.”
Piastri though refused to give away how much faster the lap times will be despite having driven the circuit during his simulator work, yet teased that the times will be “significantly quicker” with the back section “now basically a massive straight” with opportunity for overtakes.
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