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Esteban Ocon is reportedly a choice for Audi for their F1 entry in 2026, which could link him with the team for the 2025 season itself.
The Frenchman has been a part of Alpine since they got rebranded in the 2021 season. In the past three years, the team has only shown very minor signs of improvement.
The 2022 season saw their best finish at fourth place in the championship, while Esteban Ocon finished eighth to mark his best finish with them. The previous season was rather disappointing for them considering the challenge their rivals Aston Martin and McLaren posed.
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Racing with Pierre Gasly in 2023, Esteban Ocon was a part of the all-French lineup for the French team. But that did not prove to be much beneficial with a car that was not competitive enough. Alpine also suffered from instability as Otmar Szafnauer and Alan Permane departed.
Ocon currently does not have a contract with the team after the end of the 2024 season, and it has been reported that he might look forward to shifting teams.
Now, Sauber could be a potential move for him in the 2025 season. This is because of the new regulations that will kick in a season after that, also marking Audi's entry into the sport.
The German brand has been looking for experienced F1 drivers. Nico Hulkenberg has been a potential choice and now Esteban Ocon also seems to be a driver they might be interested in.
Esteban Ocon reveals goals for Alpine in the 2024 F1 season
After a rather tough season in 2023, Esteban Ocon is looking forward to Alpine for catching on to a better developmental trajectory. This is primarily because of the pace their competitors had during the season. He told RacingNews365:
"We need to work on the performance of the car, some teams have done a better job than us in progressing and getting stronger updates into the cars.
"That’s what we need to try and change. Obviously, we’re already working on the 2024 car in the simulator. We took it earlier in the year, which should help for our 2024 campaign."
At the end of the previous season, Alpine was in sixth place in the championship, a whopping 160 points less than Aston Martin. This, along with the fact that the latter had finished the 2022 season in seventh place with just 55 points, shows a negative fall in Alpine's performance. In the same season, they were in fourth place with 173 points.
When asked if his team would want to have a similar path of development, Esteban Ocon stated that he "didn't care if it was realistic."
"I don’t know if it’s realistic, I don’t care to be honest," he said.
"That’s what we have to look at. That’s where we have to aim. We want to close the gap, we want to get more competitive."
Alpine will have considerably more wind tunnel time and a better budget to spend on in the 2024 F1 season owing to their sixth place in the championship. The team could utilize this better and build a competitive car for their drivers.
