Belgium – Performance of the French: Excellent race from Ocon and Gasly

Esteban Ocon (5th)

After changing his gearbox, engine group, and chassis, the Norman said he was very satisfied with his new single-seater, which suited him much better. This was immediately apparent during qualifications with a fine 6th place on Saturday, 0.4 seconds behind his teammate, a gap that is certainly still significant but can be more easily explained by the length of the Belgian track (7 kilometers).

During the race, Esteban Ocon overtook Alexander Albon before the end of the first lap, but after the safety car caused by Antonio Giovanazzi’s accident, he lost his position to the Thai driver in the pits. It took until the last lap of the race for the Renault driver to regain his position and finish 5th, just behind his teammate Daniel Ricciardo. This made the Belgian Grand Prix the best overall result for the French brand since its return to Formula 1 in 2016, with 23 points scored as the Australian also managed to secure the point for the fastest lap in the race.

« It’s a great result. I think it’s the best result the team has had in a while. Sure, there have been other 4th-5th places, but after a weekend like Spain, it feels good. Since the start of the weekend, the car has been working great, so it means the car has potential. We’re going to keep analyzing what we can do better, but we’re here, we’re getting there, so it feels good. The work and the circuit match our car. I think Monza has about the same characteristics, so we’re going to try to do the same. »

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Pierre Gasly (8th)

Once again, Pierre Gasly impresses us with his little AlphaTauri. 12th in qualifying, the Frenchman was beaten in this exercise by his teammate for the first time since the Mexican Grand Prix in 2019.

10th at the end of the first lap, the Norman had started on hard tires, a range of tires he managed to make work perfectly to execute some very fine overtakes on his competitors, such as the one on Sergio Perez. Despite a slight squeeze from the Mexican against the wall, Gasly mustered his courage and passed him on the inside at Eau Rouge.

Unfortunately, a safety car ruined his strategy as it was still too early in the race to get rid of his hard tires. Forced to stay on track and thus lose many positions later, the Norman resisted for a long time against the assaults of the Renaults, the Red Bull, and Alexander Albon before stopping on the 27th lap.

Restarting the race in 17th position, the AlphaTauri driver executed a new series of overtakes, the last of which was on Perez’s Racing Point, before catching up with the group of Ocon, Albon, and Norris. He needed a few more laps to catch and potentially overtake them. Ultimately, he finished in 8th place, ahead of his teammate Daniil Kvyat, a position earned thanks to a phenomenal pace that would have surely made his friend Anthoine Hubert very proud.

I think there was a way to finish fifth without the Safety Car, it didn’t help us but honestly coming back to 8th place with what happened, we stayed out, I thought it would be really tough but I fought to the maximum. It was important not to lose time on the second stint and I had a lot of fun. It was an important race for me, so it was important to finish in the points.

Romain Grosjean (15th)

Weekends are all the same for the Franco-Swiss driver who, on a circuit demanding a lot of engine power, saw his Haas struggling even more than usual. Qualifying 17th, the race promised to be long, and once again the Haas cars were doomed to fight at the back of the pack with the Alfa Romeos and the Williams.

Finally, the next day Romain Grosjean did not compete with his usual rivals but with the two Ferraris, only for 13th place at best. Without ever finding an opening on Sebastian Vettel at the start of the race, driver number 8 fought against Charles Leclerc at the end of the race. Despite good resistance from the former Lotus driver, the Monegasque eventually overtook him but only for a meager 14th position.

« We don’t have a Mercedes »

« It’s the best we can do, we have the same car (as the Ferrari), Alfa Romeo does very good work and manages to be ahead of the Ferrari. I think we might have had a better pace but at the start I don’t know what happened, I slipped and Kevin Magnussen went inside at Eau Rouge so I lost places and then the car in the traffic is very complicated so it takes time to settle down and come back and everything. We can only compare ourselves to our teammate and maybe to the Ferrari. I think the race is good but we don’t have a Mercedes. »