What a scene by Esteban Ocon in the 2022 Belgian Grand Prix has to do with Mika Häkkinen’s legendary manoeuvre against Michael Schumacher in 2000
Lap 35 in the 2022 Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps: Sebastian Vettel in the Aston Martin has two cars in his rear-view mirrors as he accelerates out through Eau Rouge onto the long Kemmel Straight. At the end of the straight, Vettel is two positions down – and the scene is reminiscent of a famous overtake from Spa’s past: how Mika Häkkinen overtook both Michael Schumacher and Ricardo Zonta in the 2000 Formula 1 season.
Esteban Ocon, who in a way played Mika Häkkinen in 2022, thinks it was a “good coincidence” and says: “Mika had spoken to me before the race. He wished me luck.”
It was “fun” for him to pass two cars on the long straight, Ocon continues. His tactic: wait and see and then strike, because he was still behind Vettel and Gasly at the La Source exit.
How Ocon overtook two rivals at once
“I came off the gas easily, kept some distance and then used the top speed. The surprise was that Pierre had DRS.” And that’s why the three Formula 1 drivers drove side by side for a moment, with Vettel in the middle.
Ocon praised Vettel at this point: the ex-champion had behaved “very fairly”. “He could have closed on the left, but he did not. And so I still got Pierre on the outside at turn 5, also because I had the fresher tyres,” explained Gasly.
Ocon vs. Gasly/Vettel in F1 BelgianGP 2022 and the very similar scene from 2000 with Häkkinen vs. Schumacher/Zonta – here in video comparison! pic.twitter.com/JMKb9p24ij
– Stefan Ehlen (@stefan_ehlen) August 28, 2022
“The racing was good and my car was incredibly fast on the straights. My timing was right when I decided to make the overtaking manoeuvre. “
Vettel defenceless in double attack by Gasly and Ocon
While Gasly does not comment further on the scene, Vettel – more jokingly – states on ‘Sky’ that it was “boring from his point of view”. “I couldn’t do anything at that moment, just keep the steering wheel straight. I didn’t want to irritate them,” Vettel said.
Asked about the precedent with Häkkinen, Schumacher and Zonta, he says: “But I was not lapped [like Zonta]. However, our car is just as fast in comparison as his was back then. He was even slower on the straights than me!”
But he could well imagine that the situation in the 2000 season had felt “similar”. Vettel: “When you see two cars, you know: If I twitch left or right now, it’s not so good, then I just keep [the car] in the middle.” Postscript: “Mika was just lucky [then] that the inside lane was clear. “
Vettel still ahead of Gasly at the finish
2022 Vettel says he has only himself to blame for the scene. He wasn’t clever enough in his duel with Gasly and thus caused the double manoeuvre in the first place. From his point of view, that “kind of went wrong”, says Vettel. “It was stupid on my part. “
But the loss of position against Gasly was only a snapshot: Vettel overtook the AlphaTauri driver again. However, he crossed the finish line 2.467 seconds behind Ocon after 44 laps in Spa.
Vettel’s conclusion: “I caught Pierre at the wrong time, so Esteban benefited slightly. I made a small mistake there and they both overtook me. That was bad luck. “
The back story from the 2000 season
When Häkkinen in the McLaren was manoeuvring against Schumacher in the Ferrari and Zonta in the BAR, the first two had been fighting for the lead in the race and had run into Zonta, who had been lapped. Schumacher also chose the left outside lane at that time, Häkkinen passed Zonta on the right – and overtook Schumacher before Les Combes at the same time.
