Esteban Ocon said Alpine’s double podium finish was a “dream” result for the team, but he couldn’t have kept Max Verstappen behind to him.
The pair, who clashed at the Interlagos track six years ago when Ocon tried to un-lap himself from Verstappen, swapped the lead after the final restart in today’s race. Verstappen went on to win while Ocon led team mate Pierre Gasly to the podium in Alpine’s best result of the season by far.
Ocon managed to keep Verstappen behind him at the first rolling restart but said there was no way to keep him back at the second.
“Max clearly was quicker on that second stint, so there was no way for me to be fighting,” said Ocon.
“He pulled away very quickly, as I thought he would have done. I told him after the race, I was very impressed on how late he could brake to the inside without locking up the front. That’s what has happened to a lot of drivers.
“Probably in qualifying, 90% of my laps, I had the front locking into turn one. But yeah, he made it stick, and it was a nice move.”
Neither Alpine driver had finished a grand prix higher than ninth place prior to today’s race. However they took advantage of today’s rain-hit qualifying and grand prix to score 33 points, lifting them three places in the constructors’ championship to sixth.
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“I’m not sure that it is a reality or still a dream, but I smell champagne, so I think it is reality,” said Ocon. “But it’s been an incredible day.
“Who would have thought, first of all, that we were going to qualify fourth, where we qualified. We were very, very quick as soon as these conditions pulled out today. It really levels out the field in here.
“It feels great to be just able to fight with other cars, to fight with the guys that are at the front as well. It shows that we’ve still got it and when there’s an opportunity, we are always there to be able to take it.”
Ocon felt he had a chance to win before the final restart gave Verstappen a chance to overtake. “We were leading the race at some point, that was a special moment,” he said. “I was pulling away from Max in that first restart. It was going super-well. Unfortunately, at the end, a reality check came back and Max was still better than us.
“But it feels extremely great and even greater now because we’ve had a difficult couple of races lately where things don’t really work the way we want for us. But it clearly shows that we’ve still got it when it’s not all about the car and it’s also about driving.”
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2024 Brazilian Grand Prix
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