2 years ago: Renault's 103rd and last podium in F1 thanks to Esteban Ocon

On December 6, 2020, fans of Formula 1 witnessed Racing Point's first and only Grand Prix victory thanks to Sergio Pérez on the "outdoor" circuit of Sakhir (Bahrain). But the supporters of Renault keep in memory the 103rd and last podium achieved by the Losange in F1, throughEsteban Ocon.

Relatively discreet in his first season with the French team, the Norman often suffers from the domination of Daniel Ricciardo, which is leading a second campaign in yellow and black of a large ilk. The Australian has already scored two podiums for Renault, at the Nürburgring (Germany) as well as at Imola (Italy), his rating is increasing while his teammate struggles to find the right cruising speed at the wheel of the RS20.

“Esteban arrives after a sabbatical year in a team which is still looking for itself and where Daniel (Ricciardo) has established his position even more clearly, noted Alain Prost, then non-executive Director at Renault Sport Racing, ahead of the Sakhir GP. Ihas already made up a good part of its gap, particularly in qualifying. It still needs to be a little more regular. He also sees that Daniel is in very good shape at the moment. It must be a bit complicated for him. But that’s not a disappointment; It’s something very normal.”

The Sakhir meeting will put Esteban Ocon back in the saddle. The clash between Leclerc (Ferrari) and the future winner Pérez, coupled with the abandonment of Verstappen (Red Bull), allowed Ocon, who started on medium tires from 11th row, to gain three positions during the first lap. The Frenchman then took his set of yellow tires until the 1nd of the 42 laps of the race before making his only stop to put on Durs. On the next pass, he made a decisive overtake against Lance stroll (RacingPoint).

Taking advantage of warm tires, Ocon overtook the Canadian on the outside of turn 4 at the cost of a daring and victorious maneuver which would give him 2nd place. Because during the second Safety Car, the Frenchman, like the Racing Points, chose to stay on the track and climbed the hierarchy.

Esteban Ocon preserved his rank until the end; this performance triggered a few tears of joy that the person concerned admitted without any shame. “When you're not performing at your best in this sport, you start to hear criticism. But the important people around me always supported me and the team never stopped believing in me and we continued to attack. »

#SakhirGP🇧🇭

Ocon's joy for his first podium

▶ https://t.co/7plkVVV12v pic.twitter.com/NvBSavo0ZL

— CANAL+ F1® (@CanalplusF1) December 6, 2020

“We are in an ultra-competitive environment where there is of course competition from the championship but only one internal reference, which is your teammate, the main Losange team told us, Cyril Abiteboul. When we get to 15-1 in qualifying, it would be a denial of reality to say that it doesn't exist. Was there a crisis in the team? No. Could there be doubts starting to creep in among some people? These were not verbalized things. Are these things that Esteban could feel? Probably. This is why this result is important and why the team united around it.”

Who took Renault to the podiums?

Esteban Ocon did not yet know it on the night of Sakhir, but the Habs brought Renault its last podium before the team changed its name to be called Alpine.

The first podiums for the Régie were brought simultaneously by Jean-Pierre Jabouille, the developer of the V6 Turbo engine in F1 and in Endurance at the end of the 1970s, and Rene Arnoux at the 1979 French Grand Prix. On the Dijon-Prenois track, the two men brought to Losange an anthological double, marked by a tussle between Arnoux and Gilles Villeneuve.

The man who has climbed the majority of Renault's podiums in F1 is Fernando Alonso, credited with 41 podiums between 2003 and 2008. Follows the quadruple world champion Alain Prost, author of 17 podiums between 1981 and 1983. René Arnoux has 11 podiums between 1979 and 1982.

Fernando Alonso finished 2nd in the 2004 French GP at Magny-Cours with Renault. © DPPI / G. Levent

With this total of 103 podiums, Renault is in 8th place among the Manufacturers most represented on the F1 podiums, between Brabham (124) Benetton (102).

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