Alpine have been relentlessly upgrading their 2022 challenger the A522 in recent races, with upgrade packages landing in Barcelona, Baku and Montreal. Despite the pace at which upgrades have been added, the team have no intentions of slowing down, with a further substantial upgrade package planned for Silverstone this weekend. 

Esteban Ocon seemed encouraged by the team's upgrade program and the cars performance, saying the Silverstone package should be a step forward.

"We have quite a bit of upgrades normally coming so there should be a good step for us,” he said. “So yeah, big hopes, it's going to be a big week, starting from Tuesday for us [in the simulator], so a lot of work going ahead. And yeah, hopefully we can perform well, because the car is where it should be."

P6 and more good points for the team! 🤙 Merci Montreal! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/HVLtjlxPZD

— Esteban Ocon (@OconEsteban) June 19, 2022

Alpine's consistent upgrades have allowed them to close their gap to McLaren in the constructors' championship, now only 8 points behind the fourth place team with a 6 point advantage over Alfa Romeo behind. 

Alpine have also fallen foul of poor luck on several occasions, most recently in Canada, where Fernando Alonso failed to capitalise on his impressive P2 qualifying position, eventually dropping to P9 post race due to a penalty. 

🏁That was the #CanadianGP 🏁 Not the result we hoped for but double points in the bag! A mega drive from Esteban and Fernando 👊👊 that was a team effort!

P6 Esteban
P7 Fernando#CanadianGP pic.twitter.com/VeZhTCVrhU

— BWT Alpine F1 Team (@AlpineF1Team) June 19, 2022

Despite this, Ocon remained positive, encouraged by the team's steady progression and flashes of pace. 

"It is very encouraging, and the team is pushing forward a lot and getting their upgrades early, and not when they were planned." Said Ocon. “And, it's delivering, it's going in the right direction. And I think since the beginning of the year, we have improved more than a lot of other teams. So yeah, we can be satisfied, and it's going in the right direction."

An emboldened Ocon was also asked if the team have the potential to beat the struggling Mercedes. A possibility he acknowledges isn't yet possible, but admits that is the goal going forward. 

"We're not there. I got overtaken by both of them [in Canada]. So we're still a long way off. But yeah, that's the aim. Yes, they are the next on the list."