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Esteban Ocon emerged as an unlikely first-time winner from a thrilling Hungarian Grand Prix that had it all, from a dramatic opening lap to thrilling battles throughout the field.
A first F1 victory for Ocon makes him the second first-time French winner in as many years and he gives the Enstone-based outfit its first victory in over eight years.
It was facilitated in part by a strategic error from Mercedes who left Lewis Hamilton as the only driver to take a place on the damp grid for the race restart while every other driver switched their intermediate tyres to slicks.
Our writers give their verdict on Ocon’s shock victory and Mercedes’ strategy blunder:
This was a real team effort
Edd Straw
This was very much Esteban Ocon’s day, and rightly so after everything, he’s done to get there. But all of Alpine played its part, not least Fernando Alonso who had a key role to play.
Since Renault re-acquired the Enstone team, it hasn’t been plain sailing after the progress in the first three years. And while this year has been a little disappointing, falling short of joining the McLaren/Ferrari battle, this is a wonderful high point for a team that has gone through so much over the years.
It’s referred to as the Enstone team given it has retained a sense of identity through so many changes of ownership – and even some difficult times when there were big financial problems and the future of the team was in doubt.
But it has now re-emerged and an F1 race winner for the first time since 2013. Yes, luck played a big part, but it’s a wonderful boost for those working so hard at Enstone and Viry and hopefully consolidates support at board level.
Mercedes error not as bad as it looked
Mark Hughes
The Mercedes strategy blunder was not as big a howler as it looked.
For sure it cost them the victory but being the first pit box in the pitlane and given the fact that every other car would likely still have come in, there’s no way Hamilton would have left the pits still leading.
He would have lost a lot of time waiting for other cars to pass and would have certainly lost several places to cars with pit boxes further up the pitlane. That still would have been better than the way it played out but as the leaders, Mercedes had to make the call and second-guess what everyone else would do.
A well-deserved break for Ocon
Scott Mitchell
This is a victory and at least seven points lost for Hamilton because of a big blunder but the focus should be on Ocon. What a career story this is.
He joined F1 via the DTM. He was dumped off the grid for non-sporting reasons. He came back and struggled to re-adapt. Boy, does this guy know how to graft.
Shock victories are almost always a hugely enjoyable experience with a popular victor but Esteban is high up the list. Richly deserved because while he never looked absolutely in command and Vettel got close he soaked up big pressure in the biggest of arenas – so all credit to him for grasping this opportunity.
But perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised given he’s made his career off doing that.
It’s something we might lose in F1’s new era
Valentin Khorounzhiy
There’s something of a funny feeling about this Ocon win. It was deeply enjoyable, and on the balance of his F1 career Ocon has surely deserved to stand on the top step at least once – and yet until today he was a guy who, like Pierre Gasly until Monza 2020, you’d be forgiven for thinking would have a tough time getting particularly close to a race victory.
That’s the reality of F1. And it’s perhaps what makes these fairytale wins sweeter – that we know it’s a monumental long shot, and that we know drivers in Ocon or Gasly’s position may get this chance once every few years at best. After all, Nico Hulkenberg was hardly a less accomplished F1 driver than either – and he left without a podium.
But the fairytale feeling might take a back seat if F1’s 2022 revolution succeeds. F1 and its drivers don’t want the team hierarchy to go away completely – but they do want the majority of the grid to go into every weekend knowing they can win if they absolutely nail the weekend.
That’s so obviously not the case now. But if it will be one day, the bewildered amazement of an outcome like today’s may well be a thing of the past. But that’s a sacrifice that will be worth F1 making.
Brilliant racing made up for opening lap chaos
Rob Hansford
This may have been a maiden win for Ocon and a fully deserved one at that for holding off Sebastian Vettel for the entire race, but it’s unlikely it would have happened without the valiant effort of his team-mate Alonso in holding Hamilton at bay.
Alonso’s battle against Hamilton was defensive driving at its best and it is one of the greatest on track battles we have seen for a long time. Two of F1’s greatest drivers going toe to toe for multiple laps, whilst giving each other full respect. You can’t ask for anything more than that.
After some questionable driving standards at the start of the race, it was great to witness the highest quality of racecraft in the latter half.
Mercedes may rue the lost points
Josh Suttill
It’s not every day your second driver wipes out both of your championship contender’s drivers on the opening lap while your main championship hopeful leads the race.
While obviously not intentional, Bottas’ error provided the perfect opportunity for Hamilton to inflict some serious damage to Verstappen’s hopes of securing his maiden title.
And while a gain of 16 points is no mean feat, it could and should have been a gain of 24.
Lining up on the restart grid as the only car was as embarrassing as it looked for Mercedes, and although team boss Toto Wolff oddly stands by the decision, Hamilton would have not emerged in what was effectively last place had he come into the pits before the restart along with the rest of the field.
He would have likely lost a couple of positions due to the position of the Mercedes pitbox but they were positions that could have been re-gained – and it would have required far less of a fightback than was required to comeback from P14 to third place.
In such a tight championship fight, every single point matters, and even though Mercedes has enjoyed a healthy swing of points for the second successive round, it’s going to face a mammoth task in holding back a raging Red Bull when the second half of the season resumes.
Those 10 points lost to the strategy error could prove to have made all of the difference when the dust settles on the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in five months time.
