Ocon: 'Karting battle' with Hamilton definitely good fun

©Alpine

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Esteban Ocon says his hard-fought battle with Lewis Hamilton in last weekend's Japanese Grand Prix was "definitely good fun" and carried him back to his karting days.

Ocon and Hamilton followed each other for almost the entire duration of last Sunday's shortened event at Suzuka but the tussle ramped up in the closing stages of the race.

However, the Alpine driver brilliantly defended his fourth-place position in the running order, never putting a foot wrong in the treacherous conditions as he fended of his rival's attacks.

But Ocon admitted that two hours earlier, the prospects of racing at Suzuka looked grim.

"It’s very good that we’ve scored that many points," he said. "It was looking like we had nothing in the beginning, you know – there was no racing, the weather was really bad.

"Eventually, [the rainfall] reduced. I was still not confident that we would be able to go, but the track did clear quite quickly and it was good to finally get going."

Read also: F1i's Driver Ratings for the 2022 Japanese GP

Although Hamilton had failed to gain the upper hand over Ocon in the pair's intense fight, the Mercedes driver admitted after the race that he had "had a blast".

And the Frenchman was on the same page as the seven-time world champion.

"From there on, the fighting with Lewis, I enjoyed it a lot – it was a lot of fun," commented Ocon.

"It was a bit of a karting battle, trying different lines; not one corner [was] I not watching my mirrors! It was definitely good fun, I’m very happy with the outcome."

©Alpine

Ocon's P4, which was complimented by Fernando Alonso's seventh-place finish, was a timely achievement for Alpine after the team's pointless run in Italy and its double DNF in Singapore.

"It's been great," said Ocon. "It was only a matter of time until we could really show what the car was capable of, and I think finally we’ve done it.

"We brought the update to Singapore, it was not really working, [at] Monza we had issues. But when we are [there] in the end, it is there."

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Phillip van Osten

Motor racing was a backdrop from the outset in Phillip van Osten's life. Born in Southern California, Phillip grew up with the sights and sounds of fast cars thanks to his father, Dick van Osten, an editor and writer for Auto Speed and Sport and Motor Trend. Phillip's passion for racing grew even more when his family moved to Europe and he became acquainted with the extraordinary world of Grand Prix racing. He was an early contributor to the monthly French F1i Magazine, often providing a historic or business perspective on Formula 1's affairs. In 2012, he co-authored along with fellow journalist Pierre Van Vliet the English-language adaptation of a limited edition book devoted to the great Belgian driver Jacky Ickx. He also authored "The American Legacy in Formula 1", a book which recounts the trials and tribulations of American drivers in Grand Prix racing. Phillip is also a commentator for Belgian broadcaster Be.TV for the US Indycar series.