Ocon places trust in Alpine after key technical signing

Esteban Ocon has declared his trust in Alpine and boss Bruno Famin after the capture of David Sanchez to lead its technical department.

Weeks after his shock McLaren departure, Sanchez has joined 'Team Enstone' in the newly-created role of executive technical director after a year of upheavel at the team.

In the past 12 months, Alpine has lost its CEO, Team Principal, Sporting Director, Technical Director and Head of Aerodynamics as Laurent Rossi, Otmar Szafnauer, Alan Permane, Matt Harman and Dirk de Beer all departed.

On-track, the team is still point-less after five races in the 2024 season, with its A524 machine proving over-weight with the new car concept failing to deliver results, but the team was able to reduce the weight by 2kg with upgrades in China.

Ocon finished 11th in Shanghai, for the team's best result of the year to date, and the one-time grand prix winner believes trust must be placed in the senior management to turn the situation around.

"Things are changing, we had the announcement of David Sanchez and the team is making an effort to change things," Ocon told media including RacingNews365.

"The team is not happy with the overall situation of not progressing and going backwards, like has been the case this year.

"The board, the team members, we are competitors and want to be doing well, and it is a strong topic for me to know that on my side, they want to progress and cannot just be satisfied with the situation.

"I trust Bruno and his team to take the right decisions and drive the team forward."

Gasly: 'Time to focus'

Ocon's team-mate Pierre Gasly added his thoughts and called on the team to begin to now add performance to its botched car ahead of turning attention to 2025.

"We've had a couple of good signings, I think the big picture is that we know the car was not well-born, and it does happen that some years you get it right, and some years, you get it wrong," Gasly said.

"What is most important is how we are able to react to it and I am aware that it does take some time, you can't expect a massive amount of change in a short amount of time.

"But I feel like we've got enough data now to really spot what is working and what is not, and then it is a matter of how we tackle it, because in May, you're looking at what is achievable and possible for next year and at the same time, 2026, which is going to require a lot of work and a complete new car.

"There are a lot of things to consider, but I can see all the processes going on at the factory, and at the end of the day, it is going to take time, but it is important we react and not stay with what we've got at the minute, which is not competitive enough."