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Esteban Ocon recently compared his first race victory in the 2021 Hungarian GP to his podium finish in the 2023 F1 Monaco GP. In the chaotic race in the principality, the Alpine driver kept his head down and avoided all the barriers during the race to finish third. However, he explains why it was not as good as his first race win.
Speaking in the drivers' press conference ahead of the Spanish GP, Ocon initially stated how there were a lot of similarities in both race weekends, especially in qualifying. However, he later expressed how good of a race weekend it was in Budapest compared to Monaco. Of course, since it was not a race win in Monaco, it was not as sweet as the Hungarian GP. Nonetheless, he was simply happy to stand on the podium once again.
"I think they both had a lot of similarities. I think getting a very, very good lap in qualifying was obviously more key in Monaco than in Budapest," Esteban Ocon said. "But, you know, I also had a very good weekend in Budapest on the Saturday, and we were very competitive. But I would say, you know, it's not a win, so it doesn't taste as good. But obviously, it's been a while since I've been on the podium, and getting it on pure merit that time to have that podium, it's something special."
Ocon was later asked about whether he and Alpine could replicate the performance from Monaco to Barcelona. Though he hopes to have a good weekend once again and potentially aim for another podium, he has his feet on the ground.
"We're going to give it all to be able to reproduce it here, that's for sure. We're not here just to participate. But as I said, feet on the ground. It's going to be a good test for us exactly, to evaluate where we are after putting these updates on the car. And I think there's no better track to see where the car is exactly than here," he added.
Esteban Ocon delighted after a podium finish in the 2023 F1 Monaco GP
Esteban Ocon had a brilliant race weekend in Monaco, qualifying third on Saturday and finishing in the same position on Sunday, despite a chaotic race. After the race, he stated how a podium finish had boosted Alpine's morale and summed up the weekend, saying:
“Everyone's delighted, that's for sure. Formula 1 is unpredictable. You don't know what's going to happen and at the moment, how tight the field is, a little bit more pace can change your weekend completely. And, and yeah, this weekend, it's been an awesome one, an awesome preparation and yeah, as I keep saying, we keep pushing, we don't stop believing and hopefully, that's the first podium of many.”
Esteban Ocon currently stands in ninth place in the drivers' championship table with 21 points, ahead of his teammate, Pierre Gasly.
