Esteban Ocon expected more from his race in Italy
For his second F1 race, Esteban Ocon was unable to achieve the Grand Prix he had hoped for, the fault of a place at the back of the grid and a strategy that didn't help him. Pascal Wehrlein was forced to retire due to low oil pressure.
Esteban Ocon’s Italian weekend didn’t start in the best way, with two electrical failures during free practice sessions that deprived him of valuable track time. It didn’t end much better, with a final 18th place finish.
He was therefore not euphoric when he answered our questions in the Manor motorhome: « This wasn’t the starting position we were hoping for. Our strategy wasn’t the best either. It was quite a difficult race. It was hard to attack, defend, do anything. »
Indeed, the Frenchman was the only one to choose the option of starting on medium tires, to finish on softs. But his first stint was extremely long, with 31 laps completed. When he finally came back to the pits, those tires were simply destroyed: « I came into the pits with tires worn out 100%. »
However, he had managed a good start, gaining several places. But the first two chicanes did not go ideally: « I made the right choices in the first chicane. Maybe not in the second. I was on the outside and got boxed in and was forced to go straight. So I lost the places I had gained. »
The first chicane was also complicated by an overheating of his rear brakes, which locked his rear wheels. The car’s anti-stall system was activated, forcing him to engage the clutch and consequently lose valuable time.
Sign that things are going in the right direction for the small Manor team, the goal is not just to finish but to fight with the rest of the grid: « We needed not to break anything and stay on track. That was important. But the goal isn’t just to finish, but to finish well. We didn’t succeed this weekend, we weren’t good enough. There was a lot more to do here. »
Nevertheless, his weekend’s outcome is brightened by the fact that he managed to get closer to his teammate’s times, which remains one of his main objectives: « I am quite satisfied with my pace. I’ve made good progress since Spa, I’m much closer than Pascal. We are doing almost the same times. I would have just liked to be able to do the qualifying to really know where I stand. »
From our special correspondent in Monza
