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Esteban Ocon and Alpine reach the top in Hungary

Esteban Ocon (Alpine) won his first Formula 1 Grand Prix in Hungary after a controlled race against Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin). The Norman also owes his success to the valiant defense of his teammate Fernando Alonso against an over-motivated Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes).

Published on 01/08/2021 à 18:09

Medhi Casaurang

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Esteban Ocon and Alpine reach the top in Hungary

Esteban Ocon (Alpine) resisted the pressure exerted by Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin). © DPPI

It's not just at the Olympic Games that the Blues shine. This Sunday, August 1, a French car, powered by a French general manufacturer, entered by a French team and driven by a French driver won the gold medal at the Hungaroring.

https://twitter.com/CanalplusF1/status/1421851926191345667

Nothing seemed to predispose Esteban Ocon to reach the firmament by launching from the eighth row, but that was without the vagaries of the weather and the charm of the unexpected.

From the first braking, Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) was at the origin of a pileup which would scatter the contenders for the top 5. Sergio Pérez (Red Bull), Lando Norris (McLaren), Charles Leclerc (Ferrari, hit by Lance stroll) remained on the floor, as did the Finn.

As for Max Verstappen (Red Bull), if he could miraculously resume his march, the damage suffered to his bodywork was such that the Dutchman would never again find his characteristic peak of speed (10th).

In the crowd, Esteban Ocon stole second place, behind a Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) assured of a good result… until the red flag was waved and the sun broke through the Hungarian clouds.

After the race was interrupted, the Race Direction gave the competitors the choice of swapping their intermediate tires for dry track tires. Everyone headed towards the pits before the restart, except leader Lewis Hamilton. This strategic choice was going to cost him one more lap on intermediate tires and especially his command post.

Esteban Ocon therefore took the lead, but victory was far from certain. In his wake, Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin) became more and more pressing, and could have overtaken him during the pit-stop game halfway through the race. Fortunately, the A arrow mechanics played to perfection, stopping a second faster than the green opponents.

In difficulty in the chasing group, Lewis Hamilton decided to take the option of a second stop to put on medium tires, more efficient than the hard tires worn by the Ocon-Vettel-quartet.Sainz Jr-Alonso.

Precisely, the last named was going to make life difficult for the seven-time world champion. During several laps, the two big names engaged in an anthological mano a mano. Fernando Alonso (5th) also has his part in his teammate's success, because without his defense, Lewis Hamilton would have attacked the Norman leader.

Proof of this is that the new holder of first place in the general classification only finished nine tenths behind runner-up Sebastian Vettel, and 2''7 behind the Frenchman. Carlos Sainz Jr (Ferrari) seemed best equipped to chase down the tandem of outsiders, but crashed during the final sprint and fell short of the podium.

The Alpha Tauri finish together in the sixth (Pierre Gasly) and seventh rank (Yuki tsunoda). More surprisingly, Nicholas latifi (8th) ahead of his clan sidekick Williams George Russell (9th) and allows the historic Grove team (Great Britain) to score its first points in F1 for two years and the 2019 German Grand Prix.

In the championship, Lewis Hamilton goes on summer break with six points ahead of Max Verstappen. Carlos Sainz Jr is tied with his teammate Charles Leclerc in 6th place, like Sebastian Vettel, who holds the same number of units as Pierre Gasly at the bottom of the top 10.

Among manufacturers, Alpine climbs to fifth position with 75 pts, ahead of Aston Martin (66 pts) and AlphaTauri (64 pts).

Find it in AUTO issue 2323hebdo, on sale Monday evening digitally and Wednesday on newsstands, analysis of the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix by our special correspondent.

Medhi Casaurang

Passionate about the history of motorsport across all disciplines, I learned to read thanks to AUTOhebdo. At least that's what my parents tell everyone when they see my name inside!

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4 Comment (s)

J

JULIEN PARANT

01/08/2021 at 11:54 a.m.

What emotion to see Esteban and Alpine on the highest step of the podium… Superb grand prize

1

F

Francois Laborde

01/08/2021 at 06:58 a.m.

We see Hamilton's mentality he drinks during the Marseille on Saturday he bothers the RED Bulls I hope he will not be champion this year

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J

JULIEN PARANT

01/08/2021 at 11:53 a.m.

Above all, he was at his worst physically, on the verge of discomfort... Nothing to do with a lack of respect.

1

DANIEL MEYERS

01/08/2021 at 06:39 a.m.

YES YES YES!!!

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