The race was red flagged after a multi-car incident on the opening lap with both Esteban and Pierre reacting well to navigate their way through the chaos to gain a handful of places. At the restart, Pierre gained two places to rise to ninth place with Esteban up a place to tenth.
From there, strategy dominated the 71-lap race with Esteban on a three-stop Soft-Medium-Soft-Soft plan and Pierre on a two-stop Soft-Medium-Soft strategy; both drivers ending the race on new Softs. Pierre had a tyre advantage on Esteban on lap 49, as Esteban allowed Pierre to pass in a bid to chase Lewis Hamilton in front. And, along with putting in the Fastest Lap of the race at the time, Pierre was able to close down the seven-time world champion before a neat move into Turn 1 to take eighth place, eventually becoming seventh once all cars completed pit-stops. Esteban then made his final stop a few laps later, aiming to close down the other Mercedes of George Russell for the final point. The Briton retired on lap 59, giving Esteban a smooth ride to tenth place.
After an intense triple header, the team looks ahead to the Las Vegas Grand Prix in a fortnight’s time.
Esteban Ocon, started P14, finished P10
"Today we had a small reward with one point after a challenging race. We had a great start, gaining some positions while also avoiding the chaos in front. Unfortunately, we saw very quickly that we had very high degradation throughout and had to go for a three-stop race. We had planned for this as we saw some signs yesterday that this could be a factor, so that is something we will assess going forward. Nevertheless, a good day in the office for the team with both cars in the points and a good step since yesterday’s performance in the Sprint Race. Our focus now shifts to Las Vegas, the penultimate race of the season, which promises to be a spectacular experience where we hope to deliver another strong result.”
