United States Grand Prix – Anonymous Race by Esteban Ocon
Despite a final superb race in Japan, Esteban Ocon was unable to replicate his good form in Austin. The Frenchman had an anonymous race.
Author of a particularly disappointing qualifying session that saw him qualify in a distant 18th position, while his teammate managed to secure a place in Q3 at the 9th position, Esteban Ocon had the daunting task of making a comeback the next day in the race. His mission seemed particularly challenging as he had to start from the pit lane. Indeed, Alpine took advantage of the Frenchman’s position to install new parts, thus incurring a penalty that had almost no impact on the starting position of their driver.
Having started on hard tires, Esteban Ocon was among the few drivers on the grid who had chosen the alternative strategy. Taking advantage of the first safety car caused by Valtteri Bottas’ off-track incident, Alpine had the native of Évreux fit a second set of hard tires that he would use until the 45th lap of the race.
Having led an almost invisible race, Esteban Ocon was surprisingly off pace in Austin. After a brilliant race at Suzuka, he never seemed to find the solutions to establish a rhythm in Texas. The comparison with Fernando Alonso also didn’t work in favor of the Norman driver. Beaten in qualifying and then outpaced during the race, while the Spaniard almost retired after an impressive accident with Lance Stroll, Esteban Ocon still managed to secure one precious point by finishing in tenth place. Finishing 11th on the track, car number 31 from Alpine benefited from a 30-second penalty received by Alonso to finish in the Top 10.
Esteban Ocon spoke about his race in an interview with Canal+. At the time of the interview, Esteban Ocon’s penalty had not yet been announced: “We came so close. Starting from the pit lane and getting so close to the goal is frustrating. There are things that we will need to take a look at. This weekend has been quite strange with the qualifying not working and the race where we were not at our best either. Despite that, we managed to climb up to the doorstep of the Top 10, so there are positives to take and there is a lot to learn.”
