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Alonso made his Grand Prix comeback this year with Alpine, having left F1 at the end of 2018 after a career where he gained a reputation for being quite ruthless with his teammates.
For Ocon, the prospect of facing the two-time F1 world champion was going to be a pretty big challenge on the track – and he was well aware that it might not have been easy to manage out of the car, too.
But he says the concerns voiced to him by a number of people about the possibility of trouble being Alonso’s teammate have turned out to be far removed from the reality. Instead, he says the pair gelled incredibly well.
“I had a lot of things coming from a lot of different people warning me and telling me what they heard from the outside and stuff,” said Ocon, when asked by Autosport about the relationship with Alonso.
“But let’s face it, I don’t have any of these problems. Within the team, the atmosphere is great and we all work together, sharing the information we need.
“Okay, we’re not fighting for one and two at the world championship, so it might be different.
“But now there have been none of these [problems]. I’m happy to work with Fernando, I think we have a good relationship and it’s going very well.
Fernando Alonso, Alpine A521, Esteban Ocon, Alpine A521
Photo by: Jerry André / Motorsport images
After Ocon’s triumph at the Hungarian GP last weekend, Alonso stayed in the parc fermé to congratulate his teammate on his first F1 triumph.
And Ocon himself hasn’t escaped the vital role Alonso played in delaying Lewis Hamilton for several laps in the finals to help delay the potential charge of the world champion forward.
Speaking after the race, Ocon said: “I especially want to thank Fernando who fought like a lion in this race, because it probably also helped to leave us a gap, to give us a bit of breathing space.
“I have said this to many different presses I got a lot of bad comments about Fernando before he joined the team and I tell you we are a great duo together we push the team in the same direction I hope this is the first win for many for us and I hope we can share a podium in no time.
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