Ocon loses points with unlucky strategy at Zandvoort
After Fernando Alonso's exclusion, Zandvoort was a race for Alpine in which Esteban Ocon had to show the lead. The French pilot performed well, but could not avoid losing points due to strategic mistakes.
Ocon started the race from 16th place and after waiting two laps, he pitted for the transition tyres. Meanwhile, teammate Pierre Gasly pitted early and advanced to fourth place.
After the track dried up, Ocon continued his climb and had a serious chance to finish sixth in the final laps. However, the rain that started again in the last moments blocked Ocon's chances once again.
Ocon was once again pitted one lap after Gasly, during which zammoment lost. The team said Ocon wanted transition tyres, but opted for heavy rain tyres.
Ocon, who could not reach the degrees he wanted after taking the track, said on the radio, "We made the worst decision guys, damn it!" we heard you say.
The team responded by saying that "it will rain monsoons for at least five minutes". “Yes, but if conditions worsen there will be a red flag,” Ocon countered.
Ocon's predictions were correct, as the race was stopped due to Guanyu Zhou's accident. Ocon dropped to 11th place, losing five places.
After the race restarted, Ocon managed to score at least one point, rising to 10th place due to George Russell's tire puncture.
In a statement after the race, Ocon said, “First of all, congratulations to Pierre and everyone in the garage, they did a great job bringing the team their second podium of the season. That's really positive, the only positive aspect of the weekend.” said.
"From my own race, the car didn't feel any better, but we struggled a lot to get from 16th to sixth, we took risks and somehow managed to find our way."
“Unfortunately we let those points slip away after the race. "I'm not happy that we pitted one lap late and switched to heavy rain tires."
"The tires that would allow me to pit on the lap I wanted were not ready, so I had to go on dry tires in the wet, so I lost five places."
After Motorsport.com reminded him that Red Bull drivers had switched to heavy rain tires before the race stopped, and asked whether Alpine had made the right decision, Ocon said, "No, it was the wrong decision to switch to heavy rain tires." said.
“If you're a Red Bull driver, you have a difference at the front that can protect you. We do not have such an advantage.”
“Secondly, switching to heavy rain tires is a red flag, and it did. There is no reasonable range in which we can use heavy rain tires, and the conditions in which we will fit these tires are not the conditions in which we will race.”
“We could have been sixth today, in the first pits. zamno matter if we lose a moment. It was the last pit stop that cost us dearly.”