TREMAYNE: From fast burger to Grand Prix win – why nobody can grudge Ocon’s victory

Well, hands up. Has anyone really seen this extraordinary Esteban Ocon / Alpine win in Hungary coming?

Even after the Red Sea split for the 24-year-old Frenchman at Turn 1, when Valtteri Bottas’s auto pinball game wiped itself, Lando Norris and the Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez got out of the way, and Lance Stroll did Then there was further clean-up work with Charles Leclerc and Daniel Ricciardo… Shades of Jody Scheckter 1973 in Silverstone or Romain Grosjean 2012 in Spa!

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Had I been wildly predicting an Alpine win – and I have to say my money for a strange midfield win would have gone to McLaren, Ferrari or maybe AlphaTauri and Aston Martin before them – I would have chosen Fernando Alonso as my driver. But really, I never saw that in the crystal ball.

But that’s why it was such a refreshing result. And as I mentioned earlier, I love to see young riders take their first big wins, witness this release of passion and adrenaline pumping energy and this final affirmation of their confidence that has propelled them so far.

The scrap at Turn 1 in Hungary brought back memories of the crash at Turn 1 at Spa 2012

But how did the team, which started as Toleman in 1981 before winning races like Benetton, Renault and Lotus, brought the French to such a triumph in Hungary on Sunday in a new guise? A triumph so popular that Lewis Hamilton later said he was glad he didn’t win because it meant Esteban had.

Of course, we all know what an important (and unintended) role Valtteri played in creating such a mess and effectively paralyzing Max’s car for the rest of the afternoon.

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And that a terrible strategic decision by Mercedes had resulted in Lewis Hamilton starting as the only runner at the restart, while everyone else pitted to switch from inter-rain tires to slicks. Mercedes had told her husband that more rain was to be expected and his belief in her proved his undoing when his stop at the end of the first lap left him 14th among the survivors and had to climb a mountain.

Esteban later said he couldn’t believe how the path to second place had magically opened up for him. And that his heart was in his mouth as he headed into the pit lane, even when Lewis decided to stay out on that grid lap in case he got it wrong.

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For all his problems, the world champion could still have scored his 100th victory, but when he finally managed to move through the field on a route that is terribly difficult even for the best overtaking maneuvers, there were other things against him.

The first was the presence of Kimi Raikkonen, who stepped out of the box on lap 54 when Lewis showed up to challenge his old McLaren teammate and opponent Fernando for fourth place. The veteran Finn’s Alfa Romeo was exactly where he had to place his Mercedes, which frustrated his move.

READ MORE: Raikkonen blames traffic light errors for Mazepin pit lane crash

Then Fernando, who had victorious ambitions himself, engaged Lewis in a breathtaking battle.

They almost touched each other at Turn 4, literally running wheel to wheel, which reminded us that despite his 40th, Fernando finally overtook him on lap 67 after forcing him to lock up on Turn 1 , who made the Alpine run far, their individual chances of victory were wasted.

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So yes, of course, luck favored Esteban, but that’s hardly a crime. It is part of the deal that fate decides for you in life. This was his day and he absolutely deserves his success. Just like Pierre Gasly in Monza last year. I know they rely on chance, but it’s a shame we can’t have at least one wildcard race like this every season.

When I first met him with Manor in Singapore in 2016, I remember asking Esteban a favor. When he immediately asked what it was, I asked him to just stay the way he was and not change. Because back then he was such an engaging personality.

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A lanky boy who couldn’t believe his luck was going. Before ART offered him a GP3 drive for 2015, despite his success in Formula 3, he literally thought about the end of his career and admits that he might have turned burgers at McDonald’s had it not been for Mercedes boss Toto Wolff been. But by 2016 he had turned that opportunity into a title win, a deal with Mercedes and a side deal with Renault and that ride with Manor.

He really showed his skills over the next two seasons at Force India. Remember how he almost took the lead at Spa in 2018 when he ran up the Kemmel Straight to Les Combes with Seb, Lewis and Sergio? All of his brushes with teammate Checo? Then he had to sit out as a substitute driver for Mercedes in 2019 due to gruesome circumstances before the Renault deal brought him back in 2020. Now that the relationship with Mercedes has ended, he looks back on his recently signed three-year deal with Alpine.

Ocon won the GP3 series in 2015 – his last victory in formula racing comes at the beginning of this season

And you know what? He hasn’t changed. His willing smile is the same and like Mika Häkkinen he has just matured, which pays tribute to him as well as his super-supportive mums and dads, Sabrine and Laurent, who unfortunately had to stay at home last weekend due to Covid travel restrictions. Hope they all had a lot of fun when he came back on Monday.

I was really happy to see him win, but even happier that he literally had a tough four-time world champion like Sebastian Vettel on his neck during the 70 rounds. Because, for me, that reduced the happiness element of his success, and instead the pressure Seb was putting on him all the time fully validated his afternoon work. After that, Seb was another one to offer sincere praise, saying that despite everything he had thrown at him, he hadn’t made a single mistake.

READ MORE: Ross Brawn on the chaos at Turn 1, Vettel’s disqualification and how the win will change things for Ocon

Another young racing driver celebrated his first victory in Hungary as early as 2003. Fernando, in a Renault with the unpopular 111-degree engine. Now, despite his own disappointment at not being able to follow the lead duel, he smiled happily at the performance and similar successes of the team-mate who had become a protégé.

After the spiciness of Silverstone, this was a result that not only Esteban and Alpine could enjoy, but pretty much the entire F1 got to celebrate the summer break.