A great top 6 for Esteban Ocon in Canada

He will have made less of a stir than his teammate this weekend, but the Alpine that crossed the line first yesterday is indeed his: Esteban Ocon took a fine sixth place in the Canadian Grand Prix.

Seventh lap, the Frenchman quickly gets rid of Mick Schumacher who had started just ahead of him. But on the third lap, it’s George Russell who surprises him by diving into turn 10. Ocon then regains his starting position.

Magnussen’s troubles with his wing make him lose a place, until the virtual safety car caused by Sergio Perez. Ocon, chased by a fresh-tired Lewis Hamilton, has to give in despite putting up a good fight. The driver with number 31 goes through the pit lane during the second virtual safety car caused by Schumacher to put on hard tires.

A fierce battle with Leclerc.

If Ocon cannot keep up with the pace of the drivers ahead of him in his second stint, it is largely because he is busy keeping an eye on Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari in his rearview mirrors. The Monegasque has closed the gap, but cannot overtake him due to the high top speed of the Alpine on the straight. Esteban Ocon will resist the red car for almost 20 laps before Leclerc decides to pit.

The Alpine driver comes in seven laps later, on the 49th lap, during the safety car caused by Tsunoda. He can benefit from the help of his teammate Fernando Alonso, who is in sixth place right behind him, to try to hold off Leclerc’s comeback. But the dam built by the Bull from Asturias breaks ten laps before the end at turn 10, and a lap later, Ocon suffers the same fate in the hairpin.

Despite this, the former Force India driver secures a very impressive sixth place at the checkered flag, ahead of his teammate, who started second on the grid. With these additional 8 points, Esteban Ocon now has a total of 39 points and ranks ninth in the standings. Alpine is also getting closer to McLaren’s fourth place in the constructors’ championship, as McLaren failed to score any points this weekend.