Fernando Alonso’s 7-Year Dream Was Nearly Crushed by Esteban Ocon’s Surrender – Qatar GP 2021 Recap

Remember how Fernando Alonso defended against Lewis Hamilton at the 2021 Hungarian GP to make sure his teammate, Esteban Ocon, got his first and only F1 till now? The Spaniard was nicknamed the Spanish minister of defense after that race. However, the very same year at the Qatar Grand Prix, Esteban Ocon’s surrender nearly prolonged Fernando Alonso’s 7-year-long drought. But what did Esteban Ocon do?

Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon became bitter rivals during the 42-year-old’s final season at Alpine. However, it wasn’t always like that. In 2021, Alonso and Ocon were like teammates of dreams for Alpine. However, long before the clash of 2022 happened, Esteban Ocon did mess up a bit by surrendering and made it extremely difficult for Alonso to get his first podium in 7 races. 

During the 2021 Qatar GP, after tire failure for multiple drivers, Red Bull pitted Sergio Perez onto a fresh set of tires. As a result, Checo dropped from P3 to P7 and handed the final podium spot to Alonso, with about 15 laps remaining. Checo had to make up the positions lost to get back on the podium. However, the Mexican was on fresh rubber, while the ones ahead of him were struggling on old rubber. Fernando Alonso was ready to do anything to get on the podium after being away from it for 7 years. 

And guess what? He had Esteban Ocon in P5 to help slow down Perez’s progress. Alonso radioed his team and asked Esteban Ocon to defend like a lion against Sergio Perez. However, unlike what Alonso did at Hungary for Ocon, Perez went past Ocon on the very next lap and he caught up to the Frenchman. Ocon wasn’t able to slow down Checo in any way and surrendered, leaving everything up to Alonso. 

Read More: Why Was the Qatar GP Canceled in 2022?

Checo finished less than 3 seconds behind Alonso and almost shattered the Spaniard’s dream of a podium. However, Ocon’s 2022 shenanigans did trigger Alonso’s villainous side. But how?

Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon’s 2022 rivalry.

The bitterness started early on during the 2022 F1 season when Esteban Ocon fought unnecessarily against a faster Fernando Alonso and made some questionable moves just to keep the position. It was then followed by the incident at the track where Alonso helped Ocon win the race in 2021. Ocon pushed Alonso into the wall at the start and then defended like his life depended on keeping Alonso behind, and pushed the Spaniard off the track multiple times.

The final crack in the armor was when Ocon moved on the straight during the Brazilian GP as Fernando Alonso was about to overtake him. As a result of the incident, Alonso lost his front wing. During the post-race interview when Alonso was asked about the incident, he advised of all the incidents that had happened with Ocon. He then breathed a sigh of relief, mentioning that there was only one race left with the team and that he was looking forward to the last race. 

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