Alpine issues left me "a snail" - Esteban Ocon

Ocon, Giovinazzi, Alpine, Alfa Romeo, Monaco — Photo: © LAT Images

Monaco Grand Prix

Alpine issues left me "a snail" - Ocon

Ocon finished ninth at the Monaco Grand Prix

Ewan Gale

Wednesday 26 May 2021 17:22

Esteban Ocon has revealed issues experienced for Alpine at the Monaco Grand Prix rendered him "a snail" on his way to ninth.

The Frenchman continued his rich vein of points-scoring form for the team in its first F1 season after holding off Alfa Romeo's Antonio Giovinazzi to claim two points in a race-long battle.

Starting behind the Italian in the Principality, Ocon described the battle that leaves him 10th in the drivers' championship.

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"The plan was to pass him at the start, which I did but unfortunately he got me back so well done to him," said Ocon.

"After that, I got my tyres in a better shape basically, when he pitted and I had new tyres as well so I could have used that when he pitted.

"I had a lot more pace behind him when he boxed and we managed to overcut him. We then went onto the medium and started to face a few issues - I won't go into details.

"We had to slow down slightly. I was becoming a bit of a snail in front of a few cars but that was enough to keep him behind.

"In the meantime, that allowed Lance [Stroll] to be ahead of us and to have the tyres so we gained a place and lost a place but we were still in the points."

Ocon coy on Alpine issues

With the tight and twisty nature of Monaco ensuring overtaking comes at a high premium, Ocon was thankful his issues came after the crucial pit stop phase.

"I am not going to go into technical details but there was not just one single issue but three or four at the same time," he added.

"That was not ideal but in the first stint, we didn't have those issues and also, what matters is we didn't have the issues when we needed to push and that was quite good that we managed to pass him.

"Once you have the position, you can control it a bit more which is what we did but only just."