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F1 | Hungarian GP | How Alonso’s stunning defence against Hamilton allowed Ocon to score maiden victory

Esteban Ocon sealed a sensational first win in Formula One yesterday, and it was in no small part thanks to the help of his teammate Fernando Alonso who fought like a lion to fend off Lewis Hamilton for ten laps.

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F1 | Hungarian GP | How Alonso’s stunning defence against Hamilton allowed Ocon to score maiden victory
Fuente imagen: twitter.com/OconEsteban

A number of different factors opened the door for Esteban Ocon to win his maiden Grand Prix in Hungary yesterday, but the work done by his Alpine teammate Fernando Alonso was ultimately the decisive moment in deciding who won the race. 

Alonso’s own victory hopes gone at the start and in the first stint 

The turn 1 chaos wasn’t kind to Alonso. He was on the outside and almost had to come to a stop as the chaos in front of him unfolded. Ocon had moved up into P2, whilst Alonso was 7th. 

After the red flag, Hamilton’s failure to pit on the lap to the grid before the second standing start moved Ocon into the lead and Alonso was 6th. The Spaniard cleared Raikkonen on the first lap when they switched to dries. 

With Nicholas Latifi in P3, Alonso was stuck in P6 as Ocon and Vettel pulled a gap on the rest of the field. The 40-year-old was a full 20s behind off the race lead by lap 19 because of that. 

When Alonso eventually had some clear air, he showed his immense race pace and moved to within 6.5s of his teammate by lap 50. However he was in P4 and still didn’t have the opportunity to win. 

Extraordinary racecraft and defence from Alonso holds Hamilton up for 10 laps 

Hamilton pitted for the second time at the end of lap 47 from 4th as he fitted fresh mediums and rejoined in 5th, 14s behind his former teammate at McLaren. At the end of lap 48, Hamilton was 22.6 behind Ocon. The following laps saw the Brit eat into that gap before he caught Alonso. 

Hamilton vs Ocon in clear air 

Lap 

Hamilton 

Ocon 

Gap 

49 

1:18.715 

1:22.433 

18.980s 

50 

1:19.028 

1:21.832 

16.176s 

51 

1:19.104 

1:21.886 

13.394s 

52 

1:19.652 

1:21.784 

11.262s 

53 

1:20.344 

1:21.717 

9.889s 

54 

1:20.550 

 1:21.421  

9.018s 


Hamilton had brought the gap down by 13.6s to Ocon in just six laps [an average of almost 2.3s per lap] when he caught Alonso in the battle for P4. It seemed a formality for the seven-time World Champion to clear the first Alpine... but it certainly didn’t transpire that way.   

The Mercedes was on a softer tyre and Hamilton had a much faster car, but as has been the case throughout his career, Alonso’s racecraft and defence of his position was absolutely stellar. 

From laps 55 to 64, Hamilton threw everything at Alonso, but the Spaniard defended beautifully into turn 2 on multiple occasions. The Spaniard also placed his car perfectly in the middle of the road to heading up towards turn 4; it meant Hamilton couldn’t sweep around the outside as he did against Tsunoda earlier in the race. 

Eventually a lock-up into turn 1 on lap 65 allowed Hamilton to ease on by. Nonetheless, Alonso had done enough to ensure his teammate could hold on and secure his maiden win. It was a thrilling, tight tussle between two greats of the sport. 

Had it only been six of seven laps instead of ten where Alonso fended off Hamilton, the Brit could well have still won. He ended up just 2.7s behind Ocon when the chequered flag fell as the seven-time World Champion gained huge chunks of time on the Frenchman when he got back into fresh air with four laps to go.  

Hamilton lost a second in total to Ocon whilst he was behind Alonso. 

Hamilton [when behind Alonso] vs Ocon  

Lap 

Hamilton 

Ocon 

Gap 

55 

1:22.538 

1:21.578 

9.978s 

56 

1:21.155 

1:21.671 

9.462s 

57 

1:22.207 

1:21.693 

9.976s 

58 

1:21.301 

1:21.594 

9.683s 

59 

1:21.316 

1:21.586 

9.413s 

60 

1:21.725 

1:21.551 

9.587s 

61 

1:21.755 

1:21.700 

9.642s 

62 

1:21.386 

1:21.686 

9.342s 

63 

1:22.570 

1:22.089 

9.823s 

64 

1:21.687 

1:21.429 

10.081s 


Ocon deserves immense credit as well  

Alonso’s heroics played a huge part in ensuring Ocon took his maiden win at the Hungarian GP yesterday. It must be said the 24-year-old Frenchman did an incredible job, too. 

After avoiding the chaos at the start and profiting from Mercedes’ strategy blunder, Ocon took the lead of the Grand Prix. He was under relentless pressure from four-time World Champion Sebastian Vettel through the race yesterday. The biggest gap between them during the race was 2.6s towards the end of the first stint.  

Vettel threw everything he could at the Frenchman, but Ocon kept calm under incredible pressure and made no big mistakes. He crossed the line at the end of lap 70 to take his first win, the first win for the team under the Alpine name and became the second Frenchman in 11 months to win a maiden Grand Prix.  

It surely tasted even sweeter for Ocon after a nightmare double-header in Austria where he was all at sea with the car. A new chassis and other extensive changes for Silverstone saw the Frenchman back to his best and is now the newest winner of a Grand Prix. 

Yesterday was an outstanding example of teamwork as Alonso’s sterling defensive driving and Ocon’s calmness under pressure led to ultimate glory for Alpine in Budapest.  

 

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