Ocon made a strong start on Sunday, moving up as high as third in the opening stint after starting the race in sixth place.
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At the Austrian Grand Prix, Esteban Ocon finished fifth, which was his best result of the year. The jubilant Alpine driver thinks that after drawing even with McLaren in the constructors’ championship on points, he and his team have enjoyed “the perfect weekend.” Ocon made a strong start on Sunday, moving up as high as third in the opening stint after starting the race in sixth place. Additionally, the Alpine driver had to navigate the field after entering the pit lane on lap 15, overtaking Zhou Guanyu and Yuki Tsunoda with skill.
Before being passed by George Russell on lap 60 and initially Lewis Hamilton on lap 30, Ocon had advanced as high as fourth. However, following Carlos Sainz’s retirement, the Alpine driver was able to return home in P5, having a “amazing” weekend, according to him. “It was awesome. It’s a perfect weekend I think for us. There is nothing better that we could have done. Top five, it’s thirteen points in total we score this weekend. We gained a place I think in the constructors’, being fourth at the moment, so it’s a really good one. We are going to France with good confidence,” the Frenchman said.
Asked about his battles on track, the Alpine driver mentioned quite a few interesting tussles. “Fight with George, fight with Kevin [Magnussen], fight with Lewis [Hamilton] a bit. We had quite a few fights. We did a lot overtakes in between on Zhou, on quite a few drivers coming back through the field.”
Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc held off Max Verstappen of Red Bull to win the Austrian Grand Prix, and Lewis Hamilton completed the podium after Carlos Sainz retired. Verstappen, the champion and winner of the Sprint, pitted on Lap 12, giving the lead to Leclerc. Leclerc pitted significantly later, on Lap 27, and caught up to the leaders on Lap 37 to retake the lead. Verstappen was being challenged for P2 by Sainz, so the Dutchman pitted once more on lap 37.
On lap 51, Leclerc made his second pit stop. On lap 53, he reclaimed the lead. The Spaniard abruptly slowed down as Sainz closed in on Verstappen, the fire at the back of his Ferrari signalling the end of his race. Hamilton, who had fought his way up from P8 to P4, was now in the final podium position.
Read More – Austrian GP: Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc claims hard-fought win at Red Bull Ring
Verstappen came within 2.3 seconds of winning for the third time in a row at the Red Bull Ring, but Leclerc took the victory for the first time since Round 3 at Melbourne despite a late-race scare in which he claimed his throttle pedal was sticking, making downshifts challenging. After starting fourth, George Russell dropped to a distant fourth after losing time in his first pit stop and receiving a five-second penalty for hitting Red Bull’s Sergio Perez early on. Esteban Ocon of Alpine finished fifth after starting sixth, with Perez having quit immediately after the Russell-Perez incident.
