Yahoo Autos Ocon struggling to believe Alpine’s double Sao Paulo podium is real
Esteban Ocon says he is finding it hard to believe that Alpine’s double podium in the Sao Paulo Grand Prix is reality.
Alpine entered Sunday’s race in ninth place in the constructors’ championship on 16 points, one point behind Williams in the standings. In wet conditions, both Ocon and Pierre Gasly excelled as the team also pulled off a brave strategy — running long and benefiting from a red flag — to finish second and third behind Max Verstappen and move up to sixth overall with a 33-point haul.
“I’m not sure that this is a reality or still a dream, but I smell champagne, so I think it is reality,” Ocon said. “It’s been an incredible day. Who would have thought, first of all, that we were going to qualify fourth? We were very, very quick as soon as these conditions poured out today.
“It really levels out the field and it feels great to be just able to fight with other cars, to fight with the guys at the front as well. It shows that we still got it and when there is an opportunity, we are always there to be able to take it.
“We were leading the race at some point. That was a special moment — I was pulling away from Max in that first restart. It was going super well and unfortunately, at the end, the reality check came back and Max was still better than us.
“It feels extremely great and even greater now because we’ve had a difficult couple of races lately where things didn’t really work the way we wanted for us, but it clearly shows that we’ve still got it when it’s not all about the car and it’s … about driving.”
The result is Ocon’s fifth score of the season, and his previous best finish was a solitary ninth place ahead of three tenths. The Frenchman will leave Alpine at the end of the season and he says the fact he could celebrate with teammate Gasly — who has been a rival since their junior careers — made it extra special.
“It’s not signed off yet; there’s more races to go, three more,” he said. “If that’s the reward, then I’m very happy to call it … the reward. It’s been five years of good moments, more difficult moments of course, but I’m extremely happy and proud of me and Pierre, to be honest. We’ve had our [struggles] at times but it’s been incredible to do that last formation lap.
“A lot of flashbacks came back to my memories when we were racing on the wet in karts when we were young, even on the snow with the slick tires. We were both racing together waiting for the podium or the win to come and today, it tastes a bit like that. A beautiful story from where we’ve come from and that one will stay forever.”
