Ocon is on a 'cloud' after podium finish in Monaco

Esteban Ocon had a fantastic weekend in Monaco. The Frenchman got to sit on the podium again for the first time since his victory at the Hungaroring in 2021.

Ocon drove very strongly in Monaco. On Saturday, the Alpine driver managed to qualify fourth, but a grid penalty from home driver Charles Leclerc allowed the Frenchman to start from third place. He managed to hold this spot, and so Pierre Gasly's teammate took his first podium of 2023.

After the race, the Frenchman stepped out of the car beaming, and even during the press conference, Ocon let it be known that he was very happy with the result. "I'm a little bit on my cloud still. Before the weekend, if you told us that we were going to be in the top 10, we would have been happy, it would have been a strong weekend. But we are not in the top 10. We are not in the top 5. We are on the podium this weekend here in Monaco. That shows really that you never stop believing."

Despite the podium finish, the race did not go completely smoothly for the Alpine driver. "We had it secure, but I got a touch from Carlos at one stage and got damage on the back of the car. Then the rain shuffled everything again. We had to choose to take the inters at the right time, and we did so. From there on, I was under a huge amount of pressure from Lewis [Hamilton]. It's been an incredibly tough race to get under control, but the reward is immense."