Esteban Ocon may have had a bitter exit from Alpine at the end of last season, but he also had some of the best moments of his career with them. While his maiden win at the 2021 Hungarian GP obviously became the highlight of his career, Ocon’s P4 finish in treacherous conditions at the 2022 Japanese GP often goes under the radar.
The 28-year-old recently revisited his battle with Lewis Hamilton that afternoon in Suzuka. Starting fifth just ahead of Hamilton, Ocon had to endure pressure from the Briton for 28 long laps in torrential rain—that made the Grand Prix a timed race after the multiple delays and red flag interruptions.
Naturally, Ocon feels incredibly proud of the way he drove back then. Speaking with Tom Clarkson recently on F1’s Beyond the Grid podcast, he deemed that Japan 2022 was the best race he drove apart from his victory in Budapest.
The Frenchman stated that his only regret was not finishing on the podium, as that drive at Suzuka deserved a finish in the top three. However, that did not stop Ocon from bragging about how well he defended his position when Hamilton reminded him about the struggles he faced while trying to overtake in that battle.
“We were talking about it with Lewis in Suzuka on the driver’s parade and remembering he was like, ‘Yeah you were so quick that weekend’. And yeah, you were quick in the straight, I couldn’t pass you,” Ocon recalled the chat he had with Hamilton in Japan earlier this year. “I was quick in corners, and I was like ‘Yeah, but you still didn’t get me'”.
Great battle for P4
Ocon is holding off Hamilton for now#JapaneseGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/6bTmloVohW
— Formula 1 (@F1) October 9, 2022
Clarkson praised Ocon for the passion with which he remembered the events of that day, despite having competed in F1 for almost a decade. The #31 driver simply replied that the time he has competed in F1 “doesn’t matter” and that one can learn from Hamilton how to stay passionate about racing even after doing it for over two decades.
Ocon has spent time with the seven-time champion when he was part of the Mercedes driver academy and when he served as their reserve driver in 2019. While he moved away from the Silver Arrows post that, his bonding with Hamilton stayed intact.
The two drivers also share have a common interest in remote-controlled (RC) car racing. It was just a couple of years ago in Suzuka that the two even had an RC car race in the pitlane, and their gleaming smiles showcased that they still had the same passion for it as they had during childhood.
