Fernando Alonso was at the centre of the biggest talking point of the season, after being one of the five cars allowed to unlap themselves on the penultimate lap of the race of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Alonso finished eighth with Esteban Ocon just behind in ninth at the Yas Marina Circuit.
Alonso was right in the thick of the action at the Yas Marina Circuit, and enjoyed a great near-on race long battle with Ocon and Daniel Ricciardo. When the Virtual Safety Car came out to allow the marshals to clear Antonio Giovinazzi’s stricken Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN car, Alonso took the opportunity to pit for fresh tyres.
After exiting the pits Alonso enjoyed some brilliant battles whilst in ninth, the Spaniard was promoted to eighth after Sergio Pérez retired. This is as high as Alonso would climb in the race, in what was a solid last race of the season for the Double World Champion.
Alonso thoroughly enjoyed the race and the battles he had throughout the Grand Prix, he is now ready to reset for next year.
“It was a fun race out there tonight and to see the championship fight go down to the last lap was exciting. For our race, we started on the Hard tyres and we did well to benefit from the Safety Car this time. I enjoyed the fights we had with the Alpha Tauris and to score double points for the team is a good result for Alpine. We weren’t quite as competitive this weekend, but we executed another strong race, so it’s a credit to the team.
“We now need to reset for next year and make sure we have a good winter ahead of 2022. I would also like to say Congratulations to Max Verstappen for winning the title. It was only a matter of time that he won the trophy and whilst there was some fortune in the incidents today, I think he is a deserving champion.”
“I’m very happy to end the season on a strong note” – Esteban Ocon
It was a good end of the season too for Esteban Ocon, the Frenchman who finished ninth was stuck in the same DRS train as his team-mate, which made progression through the field difficult to come by.
It’s been a brilliant season for Ocon who will of course remember this season forever, after claiming his first win in Formula One back at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Ocon was quick to congratulate Max Verstappen on winning the title, the Frenchman is very happy to have ended the year with a good result.
“Congratulations to Max [Verstappen] for winning the championship. It’s well deserved as this year he’s been great and hopefully one day we’ll be up there battling with him in the future: that’s our aim looking forward. In terms of today, I’d say it was a good race for us. We did well on the strategy we had going from Softs to Hards on a one-stop. We didn’t benefit from the virtual safety car and we lost two places there unfortunately.
“Sometimes it goes your way, sometimes it doesn’t, that’s the way it is! I’m very happy to end the season on a strong note and that’s a positive. Thanks to everyone at Alpine F1 Team at Enstone and Viry for their hard work all season. Let’s keep pushing!”
Credit: Alpine F1 Team