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Autosport
Autosport
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Adam Cooper

Ocon: “Fair play” to Jeremy Clarkson for honouring beer promise

The TV presenter made the commitment on social media after Ocon qualified fourth and started third in Monaco, noting during the race: “Come on Alpine. I’ll buy you all a pint if you get a podium here.”

The Frenchman duly finished third, and on Monday Clarkson arrived at the Enstone factory with a tractor and a supply of his Hawkestone beer.

Ocon met Clarkson to thank him personally for the delivery after a busy week that also saw him meet tennis legend Novak Djokovic at the French Open in Paris.

“I met Jeremy Clarkson, I met Novak Djokovic,” said Ocon when asked by Autosport about the Enstone encounter.

“Yeah, it's been a pretty crazy week in general for me, and I’m just very blessed to be able to meet so many interesting people, and to have a chance to chat with them.

“Had a good laugh with Jeremy. He honoured his words, which I told him, fair play, because not everyone does that. And he did bring a beer to everyone in the team, and everyone had a great moment, so it was special.”

Ocon won’t be drinking his own bottle: “I got the beer, yeah! I don't drink, but I'm keeping it as a souvenir.

Jeremy Clarkson, Otmar Szafnauer, Esteban Ocon (Photo by: Alpine)

“And that was also the first time the [Monaco] trophy got back to the factory. So yeah, bringing it in front of everyone with Jeremy in the tractor it was quite cool.”

Ocon said that seeing Djokovic win his record 23rd Grand Slam event and then meeting the Serbian legend immediately afterwards was a great experience.

“I mean, insane,” he said. “And I've managed to be there, had a great seat as well. And I was able to see how he transforms his game, from not the best first set, I would say, and he was struggling, he was trying to find a way, and then he transformed himself midway into the game.

“And he was showing to everyone, like mentally. And then I had a chat with him after he won. He just came out of the shower! And yeah, it was awesome.

“I told him how much of an inspiration is for me as an athlete, and he's basically rewriting history each time he plays at the moment, so it was great. And I couldn't be more happy to be talking to champions like that.”

Meanwhile Ocon said that his Alpine team is in a strong position at the moment after logging double points finishes in each of the last three races.

“We are having a good time at the moment, definitely, and we are all happy that you know we are in this position so far,” he said.

“I think we were probably not expecting bringing updates that we bring that it was going to add so much performance to the car especially on Saturdays, and is definitely a great news that we are still onboard for what we want to fight for.

“There's still a lot of work ahead of us, but we are not staying still or going backwards. We are moving forward and that's very important. So all of us, we are happy.”

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