Esteban Ocon’s 2021 season was crucial in his effort to establish himself as a long-term prospect for Alpine.
Yes, his new team mate Fernando Alonso was now in his forties, but he was still Fernando Alonso. Despite facing the most formidable team mate of his career, Ocon gave as much as he got against the double world champion, seizing the opportunity to take a breakthrough victory in Hungary with a mature, confident drive.
Heading into 2022, Ocon now had to maintain that level he had risen to over the previous season. And looking back over his 12 month’s worth of work this year, it’s fair to say he did just that.
His season didn’t get off to the tidiest of starts. He just missed out on Q3 in Bahrain by less than a tenth of a second, then he bumped into Mick Schumacher on the opening race lap of the season, copping one of the earliest penalties any driver has picked up at the start of a season. He shrugged off the impediment to catch and pass team mate Alonso multiple times during the race, eventually crossing the line in seventh place to kick off his season with six very useful points.
Ocon’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix weekend was effectively a statement of intent for the rest of his season. He did a brilliant job on Saturday to line up ‘best of the rest’ in fifth place on the grid before beating Lando Norris in a late race battle to secure sixth at the finish. However, on the way, he had raised the eyebrows of team mate Alonso by aggressively defending from him as the pair battled in the early laps. While Ocon shrugged it off as just racing, it would not the only time his moves caused tension in the Alpine garage.
After making it three points finishes from three in Melbourne, Ocon’s Imola weekend was heavily compromised by a gearbox problem in qualifying. But the next weekend in Miami saw his first major error of the season, missing qualifying entirely after a thumping 51G crash into a wall in third practice. With a very long opening stint on hard tyres, Ocon made the most of a late Safety Car to eventually taking eighth place with the benefit of a penalty for Alonso.
Another strong drive in Spain earned him six more points in seventh, but he showed flashes of his aggressive side again in Monaco by squeezing Lewis Hamilton into the barrier on the run to Sainte Devote, earning a penalty that would deny him his sixth points finish in seven races. He was slower than Alonso in Baku and had to watch…
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