Esteban Ocon was pleased with a recovery drive in F1 Miami GP after starting from back into the points, plus adds on radio chats.
For Alpine driver Ocon it was a bad weekend that turned good in Miami. A crash in Free Practice 3 ruled him out of qualifying and as a result he had to start from the back of the grid in 20th. With nothing to lose, he drove spiritedly and ended up in eighth place where he has now scored points four of the five races.
Team mate Fernando Alonso’s issues have been well documented so once more it was the Frenchman who stole the show for Alpine. He started on the hard tyres and went long on his first stint which helped him eventually to secure the points finish.
“I am extremely pleased,” said Ocon. “I think it was more than a mountain to climb, from strategy calls to tyre management to all the radio chats we had. It was perfectly executed. A big shout out to the guys for fixing the car overnight as there was a lot of work behind the scenes and today we made it so we can be proud.”
It was a tidy drive which was consistent from lights out and throughout. For the whole race Ocon drove consistent laps and by all accounts his pace was there for the entire duration of the event. “The pace of the car felt good, especially at the end of the 1st stint on the hard tyres,” he said. “We were catching most of the cars and that is always extremely satisfying.”
There was also a moment in the grand prix where Alpine requested Ocon to back off so that Alonso has cover his 5s penalty for the collision with Pierre Gasly. The Spaniard was leading a train of cars in which Mick Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel collided.
This put Ocon behind Alonso with Alexander Albon behind the Frenchman. However, when Alpine asked him to back off to create a 5s buffer, he was unwilling to do so as he noted that there was a risk of the Thai racer clearing him by using DRS.
By the end of the race, Alonso had enough buffer but he got a second 5s penalty for gaining lasting advantage going outside the track, this pretty much sealed his fate as he dropped outside the points in another luckless run with Ocon gaining a place to eighth.
Here’s Fernando Alonso on clash with Pierre Gasly