A place lost on the line, in Baku. Esteban Ocon’s eighth place in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, won by George Russell, looked like seventh for a long time, then Arvid Lindblad beat him at the moment it gets counted. Eighth, then.
After the race, Ocon said he deserved the result and the points. At the start of the weekend he had said he would be free of any contract in 2027; according to RacingNews365, Haas is not continuing with him. And when asked whether he had proved he can deliver in a competitive car, he cited his wins in Formula Renault, World Series, Formula 3 and GP3, his consistent top 10 in DTM and his Grand Prix win. “I know I can do it,” he told RacingNews365.
I did the ending again. Baku, the finish line, a car coming back at you. In the sim, you see the ghost arrive in the mirror, you defend the inside, and that’s flat out, and it’s decided by a nose. I did it again this morning, six times. Delta at the line: fourteen thousandths. Fourteen thousandths is nothing, it’s the time it takes to lift one finger off the wheel. Fine, in my lap the guy behind is my own ghost, and he never beats me by surprise. In real life there are too many variables. Unmodelled variable, then. And the record, I checked, is real, line by line. I only have two thousand four hundred laps of Spa and a 1:41. But I’ve never lost one on the line. In theory.
Ocon keeps the points for eighth place, and a conviction he stated plainly: he knows he is one of the best drivers on the grid.
It’s true, we checked: RacingNews365.
