The Alpine driver was overtaken by Valtteri Bottas just before the finish line and missed out on what would have been the third podium of his career.
Screenshot/Formula One
Fans were left disappointed after one of the most exciting and nail-biting moments of Sunday's Formula One Grand Prix in Saudi Arabia wasn't shown in full during live broadcasts of the race.
Alpine's Esteban Ocon was on course for a rare podium, but was chased down and beaten at the finish line by the advancing Valtteri Bottas of Mercedes.
TV viewers weren't shown the full extent of the battle, which saw Bottas pip his French opponent by just over a tenth of a second, as their screens were filled with Lewis Hamilton cruising to race victory.
Hamilton's victory was beyond doubt having seen off Red Bull's Max Verstappen earlier in the race, leaving many on social media to complain about the choices made by those in charge of F1's live images.
—Katy Fairman (@katyfairman) December 5, 2021
—adam (@Adam_Clapham) December 5, 2021
The margin for Ocon's defeat could hardly have been closer. Bottas finished just 0.12 seconds ahead of him, roughly the same length of time as the blink of an eye.
"No, for fucks' sake," Ocon said on the radio to his team immediately after the finish.
—Formula 1 (@F1) December 5, 2021
Had Ocon held on, it would have been the third podium of his career, and the first since he took a shock win at the Hungarian Grand Prix in August.
After the race, the 25-year-old said he was close to tears.
"Don't push me, I'm gonna cry," a visibly upset Ocon told Sky Sports in a post-race interview. "We gave it everything we could today. We took all the right choices, the car was spot on. It was mega to drive."
"We gained two places in the first lap, two places in the second lap. I let the first two [Hamilton and Verstappen] through because I knew I could not keep them behind. And then we won that third place for a very, very long time, five meters from the end, probably.
"That was what cost us the podium. It's hard to swallow, the competitor inside me is frustrated and very sad, but if you would have told us we would finish fourth I would have been happy."
The Alpine team, formerly known as Renault, has been on the rise of late with Ocon's teammate Fernando Alonso finishing on the podium last time out in Qatar.
Dan Mullan/Getty Images
"So it's part of the plan, as Fernando would say," Ocon said. "We are ticking boxes, we are extracting the most out of the car.
"Today was an outstanding team effort once again and I'm pleased. Once we have car pace we are going to be dangerous. So far we are not ready yet, but we are working towards it."
