Esteban Ocon spent most of the 2022 Austrian Grand Prix under the radar, and when he popped on it after 71 tense but enthralling laps at Red Bull Ring, the Alpine driver was fifth.
On the occasion of his 100th Grand Prix start, Ocon again delivered as he establishes himself as a solid driver, in the Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc league with the right car under him.
While the Alpine A522 is hardly in Red Bull and Ferrari territory, nor Mercedes for that matter, the Blues are more often than not best of the rest, especially at the end of a race day.
The result was also the best of his season so far and means at the half-way mark of the 2022 F1 World Championship season he lies eighth in the standings.
Sporting the biggest grin in the RBR paddock Sunday evening, Ocon said after the race on Sunday: “What a day, what a weekend! I think we really maximised the pace of the car today when it really mattered. It was a great way to cap off my 100th Grand Prix in Formula 1.
“There were some good fights on the track today, but in the end George [Russell] was too quick and fifth position was the best we could have achieved.
“We go home with some very good points after this weekend, moving up to eighth in the Drivers’ Championship and now level with McLaren in the Constructors’ Championship.
“As a team we are moving in the right direction and we have momentum on our side going into Paul Ricard, one of the team’s home races, and of course mine as well.
“It should be an incredible weekend and I can’t wait to be back in front of the home fans in two weeks’ time,” added Ocon who has a sold-out grandstand in his honour at the venue.
Fernando has provided a formidable yardstick for Esteban at Alpine
Ocon was always going to be in focus this year when spotlight magnet Fernando Alonso joined the team, the Spanish veteran fired up to prove that 40+ drivers are still relevant and, in the double-F1 World Champion’s own words “driving better than ever before” providing Ocon with the unwritten benchmark.
For now the 25-year-old is ticking all the boxes, after 11 rounds of 22, he leads Alonso in the 2022 F1 drivers’ standings by 23 points. In the five races they both finished, four times Ocon finished ahead of his teammate.
Alpine team boss Otmar Szafnauer, Team Principal: “Congratulations to Esteban for marking his 100th Formula 1 Grand Prix start by scoring ten points in fifth place. He thoroughly deserved that after driving so well today and executing a very good two-stop strategy.
“By scoring so highly, combined with the effort in the Sprint, it means the team is continuing its momentum forwards after delivering some good upgrades at recent events.”
Szafnauer also revealed: “We had some reliability issues this weekend, which means we cannot leave Austria feeling completely satisfied. We must focus on getting on top of these issues so we can have a trouble-free second half of the season.
“We clearly have a quick car, but we must also ensure all operational issues of the team are performing to a high standard, so we continue to score good points with both cars,” concluded Szafnauer.
The Renault E-Tech RE22 power unit is proving to be handy, if the team can get a handle on reliability in Ocon they have a driver who can deliver beyond the call of duty, without fuss as he proved on Sunday.
100th F1 race. ?
P5 finish. ?@OconEsteban shares his thoughts on the #AustrianGP. ? pic.twitter.com/y5zDOmVg2I— BWT Alpine F1 Team (@AlpineF1Team) July 10, 2022