WATCH: Alpine's Esteban Ocon delivers 2022 Ballon d'Or award in style
Alpine F1's driver Esteban Ocon delivered the coveted Ballon d'Or trophy in Paris at the Theatre du Châtelet for the second consecutive year. Last year, the driver had the honor of doing so alongside teammate Fernando Alonso.
This is the first time that a Ballon d'Or trophy has arrived in an F1 car driven by Esteban Ocon. The driver was in full racing attire, alongside some members of his pit crew to help him out. The trophy was attached to the rear end of the car at the top, which Ocon later picked up and delivered to the venue.
@francefootball L'arrivée du Ballon d'or en Alpine avec Esteban Ocon. 🏎
🎥 @francefootball
https://t.co/GJl8UkfkYU
Last year was slightly different, given both Alonso and Esteban Ocon were together and in black-colored helmets. They were both wearing blue suits and carried two Ballon d'Ors each. The duo stylishly took off their helmets on stage and were even presented with signed jerseys of their favorite teams.
This year, Alonso's absence from the ceremony was understandable. The driver announced a shock move to Aston Martin mid-season without even informing the team boss Otmar Szafnauer. This was an indication that the team looked forward to preparing and presenting themselves without the Spaniard.
Esteban Ocon wants to achieve something special with new teammate Gasly
Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly will be teammates from 2023 onwards. The two drivers are both French and have known each other since their karting days. Notably, the drivers have admitted to past friction but still want to work together in harmony.
Esteban Ocon reflected on his relationship with Gasly and told Motorsport.com:
“Yeah, we will do. And to be honest, I think it's an awesome story to tell. I mean, we started go-karting together. That's pretty crazy. I have a lot of fantastic memories obviously with Pierre when we were kids. And you know, we lost ourselves a little bit. He was doing different championships; he went to Japan, I was staying in Europe, different teams, different times."
We were just two little kids from Normandy with an impossible dream. Welcome to the Alpine family Pierrot, let’s make our team and our country proud 🇫🇷
On était juste deux gosses en Normandie avec un rêve qui semblait impossible.🇫🇷 Bienvenue dans l’équipe Pierrot. @AlpineF1Team https://t.co/3hGFDDNjKY
The Alpine driver further spoke about why he is keen to have Gasly on the team:
“I think it would be great to collaborate together. It's not only myself now from Normandy, we are all three from Normandy, me, Pierre and the brand. So if we can bring that team to the top and make Normandy win, that would be something special. I think there are some great things that we can create there. The minimum is for us to do a perfect job obviously for the team and work well together. But I'm sure everything will be good."
The two, despite belonging from the same region, have looked distant from each other in the paddocks through the years. Esteban Ocon also backed Mick Schumacher for the Alpine seat quite publicly. It will be interesting to see if the duo can get past their differences and work together.