Ocon wants “maximum possible” change to Alpine F1 car for British GP

Following a brilliant start to the 2021 season in which he regularly reached Q3 and outperformed teammate Fernando Alonso, Ocon has failed to score points in the last four races and was eliminated in Q1 at both Austrian rounds.

Ocon’s dip in form has coincided with an upswing in performance from Alonso, who has advanced to Q3 three times in the past four races and is currently enjoying a run of four consecutive races inside the points.

“We see a few things, and we are seeing some deficit, but it is hard to place the finger on exactly what it is,” Ocon said of his recent struggles.

“We don’t want to give information on what it could be, because it is already hard enough to put the finger on it, so I don’t want to place myself onto that.

“We will start from fresh at Silverstone, change as much parts as we can on the car, and hopefully come back much stronger.

“But for sure, to be one second slower on the first run [in qualifying] compared to Fernando, it is too big, the difference. So there is definitely something that was not working right and that we need to understand.”

The Frenchman, who recently signed a new long-term deal to remain at Alpine until the end of 2024, did not rule out the possibility of a chassis replacement at Silverstone.

Asked if a complete chassis change could be on the cards, Ocon replied: “I don’t know. As I said, the maximum possible would be very welcome.

“Again, I will have a chat with the team and see what’s possible. The more things we can change the better it would be as it is one doubt less.

“There’s still a few more days to think about it, what we can do, and restart as fresh as we can be. Because obviously the deficit and the performance we had was not good enough this weekend and last weekend.”