Is this F1's most underrated driver of 2023?

If you were to walk through one of Formula 1's fanzones and ask 100 people who the best driver of 2023 has been so far, there'd probably be a near 50-50 split between Max Verstappen and Fernando Alonso. A few anomalies might emerge, as per the whims of natural biases, but the overwhelming majority would surely opt for one of those two protagonists.

How about the year's best drives? That's probably a bit trickier. Lance Stroll's broken-handed heroics in Bahrain should get a mention, as should Sergio Perez's Saudi Arabia win, or any of Max Verstappen's 'see ya later, alligator' disappearing acts to victory. But in this writer's opinion, the answer is none of the above: Esteban Ocon's dazzling run to the podium in Monaco was the standout thus far. Of the driver ratings that I've been in charge of putting together, the vertically gifted Frenchman's drive was closest to reaching the golden 10.

The Spanish Grand Prix was never going to offer a repeat of those heroics. The circuit is far too conventional to account for those sorts of drives in the dry, and the promise-slash-threat of rain never ventured beyond the ominous grey clouds that hung over the circuit like a wispy Sword of Damocles. But a battling drive to eighth, not helped by fellow midfielders jumping him with an array of undercut strategies, cemented the progress that both he and Alpine have made since a dismal start to 2023.

Even before Ocon earned three stamps on his stewards' loyalty card in Bahrain, the year had begun in particularly inauspicious fashion. The Normandy native was afflicted by a nasty respiratory virus that set him back considerably in his pre-season preparations. For six weeks, he was barely able to complete any cardiovascular training and had to focus almost exclusively on recovering.

This came on the back of a season in which Ocon managed the best points haul in his F1 career and matched his highest championship position. It was a year that could have been even better, had Alpine not suffered from unreliability with its Renault powertrain, and Ocon was hoping to progress into 2023 with the team having made the jump into the leading group of cars. The illness threatened to derail that. Thankfully, he was ship-shape in time for testing, having recovered to exceed his 2022 levels of fitness, but admitted that it was a somewhat scary experience to go through.

Ocon arguably put in the performance of the season with third place in Monaco

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

But it was Aston Martin, not Alpine, who made that considerable leap into the field's upper echelons. To add insult to injury, Ocon's former team-mate Fernando Alonso had jumped on the Aston Express at the right time, and reeled off a podium in Bahrain while the Frenchman was scoreless having had his race decimated by a hatful of penalties. The trouble began with him being marginally out of position on the grid, Ocon having parked up too far to the right, and snowballed into a miserable evening's work. A timing error in counting out his five-second penalty resulted in Alpine's mechanics starting work on the car 0.4s too soon, which yielded a further 10-second penalty. When leaving the pitlane to serve that penalty, the Frenchman copped a speeding penalty for a further five seconds' worth of pain. Sparing his blushes, Alpine pulled the #31 car in to retire.

Saudi Arabia offered an eighth-place finish, but the Australia disaster between the two Alpines continued the hoodoo. Baku was equally miserable; Ocon needed to cede his qualifying position of 12th for his mechanics to break parc ferme conditions, as reliability issues in practice meant that there was insufficient time to get the set-up right for the sprint and full-distance races. It was all a bit shambolic, and Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi let rip ahead of Miami at the "amateurishness" of the team. Morale was down, but since then the squad has been able to band together and weave some magic to pull itself from the brink.

PLUS: The bigger play behind Alpine’s ‘amateurish’ F1 criticisms

Ocon's year has taken an upturn in form since Rossi's remarks. Although team-mate Pierre Gasly had the measure of him in Miami, the two finishing eighth and ninth respectively, Ocon hit back in exuberant fashion with his stellar weekend in Monaco.

Ocon has gone from starting the year under difficult circumstances to 2023's sleeper hit among the drivers. He's certainly among the most underrated performers in this year's crop, if he doesn't already head that list

Alpine had brought new parts to Monaco, and GPS data throughout the practice sessions showed that the Anglo-French outfit had put together a tantalising prospect in race trim. That seemed typical of the team's fortunes given that Monaco is the one venue where race pace counts for little, but Ocon's opportunism in qualifying netted him the fourth-fastest time of the session - before Charles Leclerc's three-place grid penalty elevated him to third.

Ocon wished he had been a little more fortunate with red flags in qualifying, as he briefly held the quickest time of the session before Leclerc usurped him at the top. But a sprinkling of luck came the following day; Ocon had originally pitted under dry conditions and came out behind George Russell, who held off pitting until the rain came. Once the sky had cracked open and engulfed the circuit with inclement weather, the two pitted on lap 54 - giving Russell track position in third place. But the Briton slid off the road at Mirabeau on his out-lap, gifting the podium place back to Ocon, wrapped in a pretty bow.

Despite the challenging conditions and pressure from management, Ocon delivered just when his team needed it the most

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

Nonetheless, Ocon's command of the conditions was excellent and he showed few signs of wilting under the subsequent pressure that Russell and Lewis Hamilton put him under. His mental strength became apparent once again in Barcelona, where he sealed the 'best of the rest' crown in eighth place despite having to contend with faster cars and Yuki Tsunoda's lap 35 undercut following the second round of stops. In that instance, it didn't help that Alpine had taken two seconds longer to service Ocon than the AlphaTauri crew had for Tsunoda on the lap prior, offering the preferable track position to the hard-charging Japanese.

Tsunoda's out-lap was also rather speedy, and allowed him to creak open the gap to well over two seconds. Rather than lament his misfortune, Ocon knuckled down and reeled off two quick laps on the hard compound tyre to draw within DRS range of the #22 car. By the end of lap 39, he was back ahead.

On a day where seven of the Big Four cars occupied the upper positions, eighth was the best Ocon could have realistically hoped for. Gasly had outperformed him in qualifying, but rather hoisted himself upon his own petard when lumbered with a grid penalty for impeding other drivers during the session.

Much was made of the decision to pair Gasly and Ocon given an apparent acrimonious past during their junior racing careers. But, from the dispassionate point of view that the data allows, it's a great duo of drivers to have. They're well-matched, and Ocon proved during his two years alongside Alonso that he was more than a match for the two-time champion. It's Ocon who has the upper hand for now, and he's gone from starting the year under difficult circumstances to being 2023's sleeper hit among the drivers. He's certainly among the most underrated performers in this year's crop, if he doesn't already head that list.

If Alpine can continue in its current vein of consistency, having managed three double-points finishes in a row, then Ocon will have the tools to thrive and maintain his form. In a season where breaking into the top six is even more difficult for the midfield teams, racking up finishes in the lower points will be Alpine's bread and butter, interspersed with opportunities for more when the top four teams falter. Ocon's already ticked that off this season; all he needs to do is exhibit that staying power throughout the rest of the year.

Can the Frenchman maintain his upswing in form?

Photo by: Jake Grant / Motorsport Images