Bahrain Grand Prix – Ocon, patience and resilience rewarded
Seventh at the finish of the Bahrain Grand Prix, Esteban Ocon maximized the potential of his Alpine after a surprisingly started weekend.
Esteban Ocon treated us to the first unusual image of the 2022 season. During the Friday afternoon free practice session, the Alpine driver saw the bodywork of his right sidepod fly off on the straight. Due to this mishap, the Frenchman’s pink car was unable to benefit from the updates intended for the rest of the weekend.
🚩 RED FLAG 🚩
Esteban Ocon loses a big chunk of sidepod 🤯
The debris litters the start-finish straight, so the session is paused as clean-up begins#BahrainGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/ZHWKqIIZzr
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 18, 2022
Author of the 12th (twice) and the 18th fastest times in the free practice sessions, Ocon’s weekend start was quite low-key in terms of performance. Starting 11th on the grid, three places behind his teammate Fernando Alonso, the Normandy driver had hopes of scoring points in the race.
After a strong start during which he gained a position at the expense of Valtteri Bottas, Ocon then tucked himself behind the other Alpine before taking the lead in the final stint. The race of number 31 would ultimately be a perfect summary of his 2021 season: in the heart of the pack, close to Alonso, and finishing in the points.
Seventh thanks to the double retirement of the Red Bulls towards the end of the race, the French driver had a good start to his season by finishing ahead of his teammate and battling in the upper part of the pack behind the three top teams. The only downside was a collision in the first lap with Mick Schumacher’s Haas, which cost him two penalty points on his license, bringing his total to three out of a maximum of twelve.
