Grand Prix of Austria – Ocon: « We optimized everything »
Esteban Ocon perfectly managed his 100th Formula 1 Grand Prix to finish in 5th position.
Best of the others in the Sprint race, Esteban Ocon took advantage of the collision between Sergio Perez and George Russell to climb up to 5th position. The Frenchman had the intelligence to use the DRS of the British Mercedes in front of him to display a very good pace and keep his rivals behind him.
The Alpine driver even held the 3rd position for a while due to the pit stops of the drivers in front of him. After stopping on the 17th lap, the Frenchman came out of the pits in 10th position. Making a quick climb through a group of cars ahead of him, Ocon managed the traffic perfectly. Allowed to pass by his teammate on the 22nd lap, the Évreux native then easily overtook Zhou’s Alfa Romeo and Tsunoda’s AlphaTauri.
Unable to resist the two Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell, Esteban Ocon ultimately finished in 5th position, which is the best of the rest. The Alpine driver thus concluded in the best way his 100th Grand Prix in the premier category of motorsport.
« It was a great weekend. I don’t think we could have done better, we optimized everything. At one point, we had hopes of keeping George Russell behind us, but the VSC didn’t help us. The car was a bit worse, the brakes were a bit colder on one side, which caused the car to pull slightly to the right during braking. »
This performance allows Esteban Ocon to secure the 8th position in the driver’s championship. This result also allows Alpine to be tied with McLaren in the constructor’s standings.
