Former Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson has promised to buy everyone at Alpine “many” drinks after taking to Twitter during the Monaco Grand Prix to inform the side that he’ll buy them all a pint if Esteban Ocon claims a podium, something the Frenchman remarkably did.
Ocon qualified fourth for the Monaco GP but started from third following a grid penalty for Charles Leclerc, something which handed Ocon a huge opportunity to claim a third podium in Formula 1.
The Alpine driver remained in third for the bulk of the race, before he dropped to fourth due to George Russell having benefited from a late downpour at the Circuit de Monaco.
However, Ocon reclaimed third after Russell entered the escape road at Mirabeau, following a lock-up whilst on the Intermediates.
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The 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix winner held on for the remaining laps to claim Alpine’s first podium since the 2021 Qatar Grand Prix, which was achieved by Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso.
Clarkson seemingly has a good relationship with the Enstone-based team having taken a photo with the crew at the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix, with him now set for an expensive reunion with the outfit.
“Come on @AlpineF1Team I’ll buy you all a pint if you get a podium here,” Clarkson tweeted.
Moments after Ocon claimed his third F1 podium, Clarkson returned to Twitter to congratulate the French outfit and confirm that he owed them all a drink.
“Well done @AlpineF1Team I owe you many Hawkstones,” said Clarkson.
Some Alpine employees discovered Clarkson’s promise, before commenting that they’d love a drink.
Chris Shawe wrote on Twitter: “Will be in the office Tuesday waiting for the delivery!”
Alpine wind tunnel engineer Brett Foster added: “Looking forward to it!”
READ: George Russell breaks silence on Toto Wolff telling off in Monaco
Ocon was “speechless” after the race and couldn’t believe that he’d claimed a podium at Monaco, marking the team’s first rostrum since the new aerodynamic regulations were introduced.
“I’m speechless, I’m on a cloud at the moment – I don’t know what to say! Before the weekend, if you told us that we were going to be in the top 10, we would have been happy, you know?” Ocon said after the race, as reported by the Express.co.uk.
“But it’s not the top 10, it’s not the top 5, it’s a podium! We are on it, and the energy I’ve received from everyone from [this] weekend has been awesome. I can’t thank everyone enough for the support I got, and that one goes to all the team, from Viry to Enstone to the track. This one’s for us and hopefully there’s many more to come.”