Alpine Formula 1 driver Esteban Ocon says that leading the Sao Paulo GP was “a special moment” and admits that ultimately losing the lead to Max Verstappen was “a reality check”.

The Frenchman was fast from the start of Sunday’s delayed wet qualifying session at Interlagos, and he took P4 on the final grid.

He was running fourth on the wet track when a VSC prompted the three drivers ahead of him to pit for fresh intermediates, promoting him to the lead – before a red flag soon afterwards froze the positions and gave him a free tyre change.

After the race was resumed he continued to lead until Verstappen passed him following a safety car period.

He remained in second place to the flag, crossing the line ahead of Alpine team mate Pierre Gasly. The surprise result moved Alpine from ninth to sixth in the constructors’ championship.

“I’m not sure that is a reality or still a dream,” said Ocon. “But I smell champagne, so I think it is reality. But yeah, it’s been an incredible day. Who would have thought, first of all, that we were going to qualify fourth, where we qualified?

“We were very, very quick as soon as these conditions pulled out today. It really levels out the field here.

“And it feels great to be just able to fight with other cars, to fight with the guys that are at the front as well. And it shows that we’ve still got it. And when there’s an opportunity, we are always there to be able to take it.

“We were leading the race at some point. That was a special moment. I was pulling away from Max in that first restart. It was going super well. Unfortunately, at the end, a reality check came back, and Max was still better than us.

“But it feels extremely great, and even greater now because we’ve had a difficult couple of races lately where things don’t really work the way we want for us. But it clearly shows that we’ve still got it when it’s not all about the car and it’s also about driving.

 Regarding his pace in the wet he said: “I think we are normally better on the rain. It’s difficult to be worse at times than where we are on the dry, especially lately!

“But it’s definitely great to be able to execute such a race. The team have been spot-on on strategy calls, tyres. And when everyone is on a level playing field, we can play and here we are.”

“Max clearly was quicker on that second stint, so there was no way for me to be fighting. He pulled away very quickly, as I thought he would have done.

“I told him after the race, I was very impressed on how late he could brake to the inside without locking up the front. That’s what has happened to a lot of drivers.

“Probably in qualifying on 90% of my laps I had the front locking into Turn 1. But he made it stick, and it was a nice move.”

Ocon will move to Haas in 2024, ending his partnership with both the Enstone team and his longtime friend and rival Pierre Gasly.

“Well, it’s not signed off yet,” he said. “There are more races to go, three more. But if that’s the reward, then I’m very happy to call it that this is the reward. It’s been five years of good moments, more difficult moments, of course. But, yeah, extremely happy and proud, you know, of me and Pierre, to be honest.

“We’ve had our stories at times, but it’s been incredible to do that last formation lap. A lot of flashbacks came back to my memories, when we were racing on the wet in go-karts, when we were young, even in the snow with the slick tyres, we were both racing together and waiting for the podium or the win to come.

“And today, it tastes a bit like that. So a beautiful story from where we come from. One will for sure forever stay engraved.”