“We Gave It Everything” – Esteban Ocon Close to Tears After Tragic P3 Defeat in Jeddah

Alpine driver Esteban Ocon would like to forget about the recent Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. as he missed out on a podium at the very last second. It seemed like the French driver had bagged his second podium of the season, but Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas deprived him of a third-place finish.

It was no surprise that Ocon was heartbroken as he spoke to the media after Sunday’s race. Nevertheless, the French driver would aim to bounce back at the final race of the season at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Esteban Ocon gets emotional after losing out on a podium finish in Saudi Arabia

The 25-year-old was excited as he was about to grab another podium this season for the Enstone-based squad. However, his race was far from over, as, at the last minute, Bottas swooped in and stole his place, earning himself a third-place finish.

Speaking to the media after the race, an emotional Ocon said, “Don’t push me I am gonna cry, Don’t push me I am gonna cry, Natalie. Yeah, we gave it everything, we could today, yeah I think we took all the right choices. The car was spot on, it was mega to drive we gain two places in the first half, two places in the second lap. Starting on pole on the last one, obviously.”

“Let the two first through, because I knew, I couldn’t keep them behind, and we hold the third place for a very very long time; five meters to the end probably. That was what cost us the podium, so hard to swallow, the competitor inside me was frustrated and very sad. But if you would have tell us we would have finished fourth. I would have been happy, so it is part of the plan as Fernando would say.”

“We are ticking boxes extracting the max out of the car, and today was an outstanding team effort once again and I am pleased. But, once we are going to have car pace, we are going to be dangerous But so far we are not ready yet, but we are working towards it,” Ocon concluded.

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Ocon shows his frustration on the team radio

As the race was coming to an end, many would have thought that Ocon grabbed his second podium of the season. However, Bottas made a last-minute move on the French driver, which saw him take third place, instead of Ocon.

Being so close to a podium-finish, Ocon was furious on the team radio, and said, “No, for f**k sake. Joke, f**k,” being advised to keep his head up by his race engineer, Ocon said, “There was straight-line speed at the end there for f**k sake, missed by not much.” He added, “Yeah sorry guys, sorry for that.”

With the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix just around the corner, Esteban would hope to put this heartbreak aside and bounce back for the final race of the season.

Read More: How Esteban Ocon Gained Fernando Alonso’s Respect, Alpine F1 Boss Reveals