Esteban Ocon was unable to exploit his tires at Sakhir

For the first time this season, Esteban Ocon arrived at Sakhir on a circuit he already knew, having raced there in GP3. He was therefore on an equal footing with his teammate, Sergio Perez, and was eager to make up for his last place in the Shanghai qualifying.

This is partly done since he did indeed beat his teammate and was able to reach Q2. But the Frenchman cannot be satisfied with his 14th place on the grid. He believes he was unable to do better due to the exploitation of his tires: « It was a rather normal session, apart from my DRS problem in Q1, but I am not happy with my 14th place because we want to be higher on the grid. We did everything right but we weren’t fast enough to get into Q3 today. We have seen that the operating window of the tires is very small and it is not easy to understand them and get the necessary performance. I think that was our problem today. We didn’t find the window. »

But the Frenchman will remember that he was still able to score a point in the first two races of the season. On a circuit with long straights, the power of his Mercedes engine should offer him overtaking opportunities and help him move up in the hierarchy.

This will be even truer for his teammate, Sergio Perez. He had to stop his efforts as early as Q1 after being caught in the yellow flags at the end of the session: « I was really unlucky today with the yellow flags. I had to abort my last lap in Q1 and that was the end of my qualifying. It’s a shame because I had the speed to be much higher, but sometimes things just don’t work out. »