F1: Otmar Szafnauer assesses Ocon/Gasly dynamic

Otmar Szafnauer says that he believes Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly are going to work well together at Alpine next year.

After weeks of speculation linking Gasly to the vacant Alpine drive, it was confirmed ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix last weekend that he would indeed be leaving AlphaTauri and joining Ocon, to form an all-French driver line-up for 2023.

Certainly, it’s an exciting driver line-up on paper with both Gasly and Ocon possessing plenty of talent and speed, whilst both have the desire to keep pushing and building themselves up towards the front of the grid.

They'll be hoping that they can do that with Alpine in the coming seasons, then, with the team putting together a decent car for 2022, though making the jump to join Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes right at the front is going to prove some challenge.

It's one they'll believe they can do, though, and Szafnauer also believes the pair are going to work well together within the team.

"They're about equally experienced; they're both fast, both ambitious," said the team principal. "So I think they'll work well together."

Of course, when it first was suggested that Gasly might partner Ocon, many were quick to refer to a perceived strained relationship between them that stems back to them coming through the junior ranks.

They have known each other since they were young kids and there has been suggestions of them having some ups and down between them, though they are both now in their mid-20s and surely eager to put any of that behind them if they can.

Ultimately, they have a great chance of building something really good together at Alpine and if they can find the common ground that they evidently have, this could be a really decent driver partnership.

Szafnauer