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Ocon: 'I knew I didn't had to fight with Verstappen or Hamilton'

Ocon: 'I knew I didn't had to fight with Verstappen or Hamilton'

22-12-2021 18:12 Last update: 23-12-2021 09:11

GPblog.com

The season was dominated by Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, who together took the majority of the wins. There were occasional surprises, and Esteban Ocon's victory in Hungary was probably the biggest.

Reminder

On the day that Mercedes and Red Bull failed (due to crashes), the Alpine driver took full advantage of the Hungarian chaos. It was a day to remember. In fact: "It is a season that I will remember all my life," the Frenchman told AutoHebdo. "My first victory in F1 will be engraved in my memory forever."

In the end, Ocon finished in eleventh place in the final ranking. For a place in the top ten, Alpine wasn't constant enough for that. But it must be said that the team got better and better towards the end of the season. Fernando Alonso achieved a third place in Qatar with the Alpine. Then in Saudi Arabia, Ocon lost a third place only in the final meters.


Pole

Ocon calls that race in the oil state one of the highlights of the season. Because of incidents and crashes he was allowed to start from first place, ahead of Hamilton and Verstappen. "It was intense! I didn't put any extra pressure on myself, I knew I didn't had to fight with Max or Lewis. I didn't have enough speed to leave them behind me. So my pole, it was more of a bonus than anything else. I thought they would be aggressive with each other, but not with me!"