Ocon blames set-up after trailing Alonso in Melbourne

Esteban Ocon says taking a different route with his set-up was the reason for the speed differential between himself and Fernando Alonso in qualifying for the Australian GP.

The Frenchman, though, wouldn’t go into detail.

Such was Alonso’s pace around the Albert Park circuit on Saturday afternoon that the Spaniard believed he could have challenged for pole position had he not crashed.

A hydraulic issue, the result of a faulty part that costs all of £1.50, meant the double World Champion lined up P10 while Ocon qualified eighth.

But despite being ahead of his team-mate on the grid, he trailed Alonso through both Q1 and Q2, four-tenths and then three-tenths off the pace.

Ocon says that was because he’d gone with a different set-up to the Spaniard.

“We took a decision from Friday night to steer our car in a different way,” he told Motorsport.com.

“Obviously it was to try and steer the development more in one direction, and it didn’t really pay off for us.

“But on not such a good weekend to finish P7 and to score six points is pretty decent.”

Asked to explain the differences between his and Alonso’s car, he replied: “No. We are too close to the front to give anything away!”

Overall the Frenchman says he has “mixed emotions” about the weekend.

P7 in Melbourne. More good points but mixed emotions about our weekend as a team. So head down and let’s keep pushing, together. Thank you and peace out Straya #AusGP pic.twitter.com/Dxc6IYneLz

— Esteban Ocon (@OconEsteban) April 10, 2022

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