Esteban Ocon offered 'the pit crew a break'

This is a strategy that was also attempted by Charles Leclerc et Lewis Hamilton this Sunday at Otodrom Istanbul Park. Esteban Ocon is nevertheless the only driver to have managed to take his intermediate tires to the end of the 58 laps of the race without stopping, to the great dismay of the seven-time world champion. “If Ocon did it, then I could do it”, said the Briton after the race. The Frenchman's tenth place at the checkered flag allowed Alpine to finish a 15th consecutive time in the points, while Fernando Alonso, who started fifth on the grid, did not have the opportunity to validate his good qualifications after being sent into a spin at the first turn by Pierre Gasly.

VIDEO : The clash between Gasly and Alonso at the start of the Turkish GP

“It feels good to score a point today after a difficult weekend and a very long race, Ocon reacted. It was good to take a risk by going all the way with just one set of tyres. You don’t see that very often and it was nice to give the team a break in the pits this afternoon! I remember that the same strategy was possible here last year. It was tough, but the tires held up and our efforts were finally rewarded. I also enjoyed the battles on the track. We managed to work our way through and it was pretty fun. This is a great point and I hope we can build on this for the next race. » Another notable fact for the stableenstone in Istanbul: she has never given up once in seven editions.