F1 drivers congratulate Novak Djokovic for winning the record-breaking 23rd grand slam at the 2023 French Open
F1 drivers Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon were spotted on the Phillipe Chatriere court at Roland Garros to witness tennis icon Novak Djokovic create history on Sunday.
The Serbian superstar became the first male player in history to win 23 Grand Slam titles. He surpassed his rival, Rafael Nadal, after he was tied at 22 with the Spaniard after winning the Australian Open earlier this season.
Djokovic defeated World No. 4 Casper Ruud in the final of the French Open in straight sets to win his third title in the French capital.
Many sporting stars, including the Alpine duo, were in the stadium to see history being made on Sunday. While Gasly shared a couple of stories on his Instagram to celebrate the feat, Ocon took to social media platforms to congratulate the Serb, saying:
"What an incredible achievement 🏆 Congratulations @djokernole on your 23rd Grand Slam title."
Alpine F1 driver comments on his 'rumored' spat with Fernando Alonso
Esteban Ocon clarified reports of having a tiff with former Alpine F1 teammate Fernando Alonso after his comments last year.
Speaking with AS, the F1 driver clarified:
“The press likes to talk a lot, but everything is going well. I have enormous respect for him and always will. Now we compete close. Not as close as we would like, but we did [get to]compete on the track. Fernando is having a fantastic season, respect."
He added:
"I have no doubt that he continues to be at his best level. I have competed with him in recent years and he shows everyone that he is one of the best ever. I take my hat off. He’s doing incredibly well, he makes me happy, and I hope to get to that level soon.”
The Alpine F1 driver also added that his responsibilities have not changed with the departure of the two-time champ, adding:
“I do the save job as when Fernando was here. I go to the factory every week, I’m involved in the project, I work with the same people and there are no differences.”
Ocon had previously stated that he was doing 80 percent of the media commitments when Alonso and he were teammates at Alpine F1 for two seasons in 2021 and 2022.
But it is nice to see that there is no tension between the two drivers and that they share respect for each other despite not racing for the same team in the sport.