"Great drive guys" - Lewis Hamilton congratulates Alpine duo of Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly for the podium at F1 Brazilian GP

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton praised the Alpine duo of Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly after the French drivers came home in P2 and P3, respectively, at the 2024 Brazilian GP. Ocon started the race well and managed to keep hold of his P4 starting place behind Yuki Tsunoda for the first half of the race. He eventually overtook the Japanese driver to move himself into the podium positions.

He led the race for a brief period between the two restarts after George Russell and Lando Norris pitted before the red flag, which gave the lead to the Frenchman. He eventually finished second after Max Verstappen overtook him on the final restart.

Pierre Gasly started the race from P15 and moved up two positions after Lance Stroll and Alex Albon's DNS. The 28-year-old made up a couple of positions from the line and was one of the drivers few drivers to not make a stop and gain some positions in the red flag conditions. He was able to hold back George Russell in the final phase of the race to bring the double podium for Alpine.

Lewis Hamilton took to his Instagram stories to congratulate the two. He shared Alpine's post and wrote,

"Really happy to see these two on the podium, great drive guys 🙌🏾"

Alpine team boss reflects on team's double podium in Brazil

Alpine team principal Oliver Oakes said that both Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly were "faultless" in their driving, following the Brazilian GP on Sunday.

As per F1.com, the 32-year-old said:

“What a way to end the triple-header with a double podium for the team. Even more so after the early alarm call this morning after the rain delay yesterday! Both drivers were faultless today in difficult conditions, not putting a wheel wrong all day.

"On top of the points in the Sprint race yesterday, it’s been a great weekend for the whole team in all conditions, and a real credit to everyone across Enstone and Viry for their hard work these past two months to bring performance to the track. This gives us some momentum that we must use to finish the season strongly.”

In the post-race press conference, Ocon and Gasly reminisced about their junior days when they were racing in similar conditions. Ocon said,

"We've had our stories at times, but it's been incredible to do that last formation lap. A lot of flashbacks came back to my memories of when we were racing on the wet in go-karts when we were young, and even in the snow with the slick tires, we were both racing together and waiting for the podium or the win to come. And today, yeah, it tastes a bit like that."

Alpine's double podium finish has helped the team to move into P6 in the constructors' championship, ahead of Haas, RB, and Williams.