Ocon gets new F1 chassis for British GP to “eradicate doubt” over form

The Frenchman enjoyed a stellar start to the 2021 season but has failed to score points in the past four events, while he was dumped out of Q1 at both the Styrian and Austrian Grands Prix.

Ocon’s performance struggles in Austria prompted him to ask Alpine to change the “maximum possible” number of parts on his car in time for this weekend’s race at Silverstone.

Ahead of the British Grand Prix, Alpine executive director Marcin Budkowski revealed the French squad was making “extensive changes” to his A521, including a brand new chassis.

“Esteban had two difficult races in Austria and we’re still investigating whether there are any technical reasons behind it,” Budkowski explained.

“To eradicate any doubt, the team has made the decision to make extensive changes to his car for Silverstone, including a new chassis.

“Esteban performed very strongly at the start of the season and qualified the car on the third row of the grid on merit at two races in a row just a few weekends ago, so we are working together to make sure he bounces back, and this weekend is the perfect opportunity to do that.”

Following a tricky triple-header, Ocon stressed he is confident of completing a “reset” at Silverstone and getting back to the level of performance he was able to reach at the beginning of the year.

“The France-Austria triple header was not as successful as we had hoped,” he admitted.

“It’s good that we’re heading to a completely different circuit, taking on a new challenge and having a reset.

“The team and I have been working very hard behind the scenes to see what we can do to improve our performance.

“I know we’ll come back to the level we had at the start of the season and the hard work will only continue until we achieve that and even go beyond. I’m really motivated for a good result this weekend.”