Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi has eased a degree of the pressure he had placed on his previously under-performing team in the wake of Esteban Ocon’s superb performance across the Monaco Grand Prix weekend.
Rossi left no stone unturned in his condemnation of Alpine’s performances leading into the Miami Grand Prix in early May, denouncing what he had so far witnessed to be amateurish, and placing team boss Otmar Szafnauer firmly in the firing line.
Ocon and team-mate Pierre Gasly initially responded in Miami by finishing ninth and eighth respectively, an improvement on the failure to score points in the previous two races.
In Monaco, Ocon, in particular, was highly impressive as he qualified fourth, less than two-tenths of a second behind polesitter Max Verstappen.
Starting from third after Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc collected a penalty for impeding McLaren’s Lando Norris during Q3, the French driver delivered in the race, notably when the conditions turned tricky when rain fell.
Ocon managed to finish third, the third podium of his F1 career, whilst Gasly conjured a solid seventh place.
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“I am happy for the team,” said Rossi, who, when asked if he felt his words in Miami had proved galvanising, replied: “I would hope so. It’s a bit early to say that.
“But it certainly had one effect, which is to say we were not going to be satisfied with this, there’s a couple of things we need to improve.
“The performance of the car, as I said back then, will take time. It needs regular updates, upgrades on the car, and we will do it.
“Operational excellence? They did it and I’m glad, and then the mindset. They have also exhibited a very good mindset over the past two races so whether it (his remarks) worked or not, they are now doing what was missing so I’m happy.”
Szafnauer still in the spotlight
Rossi is aware, however, of Monaco’s unique nature and that it would be “unrealistic” to expect to finish third in the majority of the races going forward.
“I would love that but we still have a lot of work to do to get there,” he added. “But yes, certainly be serious, applied, and deliver a strong performance, like they did at the weekend – drivers, engineers, mechanics, everyone here at the track and in Enstone and Viry.
“That was solid, like in Miami. All I need is for them to reproduce that, so our team is more aligned with what they’ve been delivering in 2021 and 2022.
“Excellence in operation and in delivering at the weekends which enable us to fight hard but always win the fifth and fourth position battle.
“We have always had a tense battle but we won thanks to those qualities that we exhibited and I’m glad they did exhibit that again because that’s what they are. I knew that it was in them. I’m proud of them and they should be proud too.”
As for Szafnauer’s position, Rossi has made clear that as the leader of the team, he will always remain in the spotlight, and that the buck will continue to stop with him.
“I said it back then and I think people took it as a direct threat,” said Rossi.
“It’s his responsibility to lead and manage the team. It’s always been his responsibility, the buck stops with him.
“I also have a few cars to develop, a few markets to open, whilst other people get less talked about.
“But they all have the same responsibility on their shoulders, nothing different. Otmar is one of them.”
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