Esteban Ocon Wins McLaren Outcast Daniel Ricciardo’s Respect As Last Lap Heroics Against Lando Norris Make for a Picture-Perfect Finish

With more than 3,45,000 spectators, the race at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve was one of the noisiest. The Formula 1 fans undoubtedly witnessed some lethal maneuvers today from one of the “sweetest drivers” on the grid as well as one of the aggressive one. The race at the front was already sorted, but the hunger to get those crucial points gave us some of the memorable moves from Alpine driver Esteban Ocon. The move Ocon made at the penultimate lap got the respect of McLaren Ouster Daniel Ricciardo. So what exactly happened?

It was Lando Norris who was giving his all to maintain a gap from those running behind in order to save his 5-second time penalty which eventually will keep him at the same place at P8. However, a move made by Esteban Ocon at the last lap made it a thriller for Daniel Ricciardo who was found presenting ESPN’s alternate telecast, the Grandstand with Daniel Ricciardo and Will Arnett.

Esteban Ocon experienced agony over the final laps. His rear wing was swinging a lot. The Norman was able to hold off Norris’s assault and maintain 8th place. As Norris was approaching at full pace from the inside, Ocon made a move from the outside. Later, the battle went wheel to wheel and at the last turn, Ocon made an outstanding defensive move and bailed out the McLaren.

This prompted Daniel Ricciardo to make the following statement in a post surfacing on the internet.

The McLaren ouster said, “Yeah, yeah. You gotta try. You gotta try. It’s good defending. Good defending from Ocon.”

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Before this, the British driver and his crew were perplexed by the punishment, which sparked criticism from all sides. So what prompted the FIA to hand over the punishment to Norris?

Why did Lando Norris receive the Penalty?

Following Alonso, George Russell entered Turn 8 quickly on Lap 13 of 70. However, as he exited Turn 9, Russell lost control and smashed into the outside wall. The Safety Car was deployed right away. This gave Lando Norris a chance, and as he was getting ready for double stacking, he backed the pack up so that he and his partner could both hit the pit at the same time. As a result, Lando Norris incurred a 5-second time penalty.

Sky Sports F1 analyst Ted Kravitz said that punishing Norris for his unsportsmanlike behavior would be like handing a “penalty to a puppy for doing a whoopsie in the park.” 

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The Frenchman is leading his squad better than his teammate with a total of 29 points. Can the French team move up from fifth in the constructor’s standings?