Saudi Arabian Grand Prix: Esteban Ocon finishes one step away from the podium!
The Norman misses the podium by only one-tenth after spending the majority of the race in 3rd position.
« Hard to swallow »: these were the words of Esteban Ocon speaking to Canal+ microphones after the race. It must be said that the Alpine driver delivered a perfect performance during this Saudi weekend: clearly dominating his teammate Fernando Alonso (who himself had finished on the podium of the previous Grand Prix in Qatar), the 25-year-old driver secured a place in Q3 with his A521. Then, the next day, during the race, he immediately gained two positions at the start (including one with a superb overtaking move on the outside against Pierre Gasly) and was in 7th position before the red flag following Mick Schumacher’s accident. The red flag allowed him to move up to 4th position after Pérez and the two Mercedes pitted under the safety car regime. Ocon was therefore able to change his tires “for free.”
At the second restart, the native of Évreux took advantage of Bottas’s missed start to take third place before even starting from pole position at the third restart following the Hamilton-Verstappen tangle. If Ocon failed to resist the two madmen battling for the drivers’ world championship at the restart, the Norman driver remained firmly in third place.
Alas, Valtteri Bottas, Lewis Hamilton’s teammate, was catching up like a plane on the Alpine driver. The Finn missed his first attempt at the start of the final lap and the podium seemed secured for Esteban Ocon. But that was without counting on the final sector: the power of the Mercedes engine as well as the very low ground clearance of the W12 allowed Bottas to catch up and then overtake Ocon… on the final straight, as he had done against Stroll at the 2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
But by seeing the glass half full, the Norman can be pleased to have resisted the best single-seater for a few laps. In addition, this result allows him to mark his territory against a double world champion who was stealing the show despite his victory at the Hungarian Grand Prix. Finally, this result allows Alpine to build a decisive lead over AlphaTauri in the fight for the 5th place in the constructors’ championship.
As for Esteban Ocon, he is in eleventh place in the drivers’ championship, just 5 points behind his teammate Fernando Alonso as we head towards Abu Dhabi, the conclusion of this 2021 Formula 1 season.
