Monaco – Qualifying: The big gap for Sahara Force India
Saturday's race confirmed the observations made during Thursday's practice session in Monaco: Sergio Pérez, in confident mood, finished in the top 10, while Esteban Ocon, who had an accident this morning following contact with the rail, was unable to perform miracles.
After five nearly flawless races for the driver duo of the Silverstone team, young Frenchman Esteban Ocon is now taking a step back in his series of good results, exiting the qualifications in Q1 for the former Manor driver. Meanwhile, Sergio Pérez displays a high level of performance in the Principality, coupled with rare consistency.
Esteban Ocon, 16th (1:14.101 in Q1)
The driver No. 31 couldn’t hide his disappointment after the qualifying session in the motorhome of his Force India team. A few hours earlier, the Frenchman had broken the front right suspension of his car in the second turn of the Piscine section, before hitting the safety barrier a few meters further. This happened during the third and final free practice session in Monaco, just over two hours before the crucial qualifying session. From that moment, all the mechanics of his team were mobilized to repair a car that was in a wrecked state in time.
« During FP3, I was really confident with the car, maybe it wasn’t the time to give it 100% » the driver admitted.
His team was able to release the young driver’s car 10 minutes after the green light of Q1, but at no point was Ocon in the rhythm to claim a place in Q2. When asked if this morning’s accident impacted his qualifying performance, the Frenchman stated: “Clearly.” He added that the last-minute adjustments to make his car operational were probably not at the level of precision required for such a competition in the fast lap exercise: “In a rush, you don’t adjust many parts, and the difference is in the overall functioning of the car.” “The car is ready!” Is called on the radio. @OconEsteban heads out to start his qualifying! Thumbs up for the crew in the garage! #MonacoGP pic.twitter.com/wMFkI2mzH2 — Sahara Force India (@ForceIndiaF1) 27 May 2017
Sergio Pérez, 7th (1:13.329 in Q3)
One could say that Sergio Pérez delivered a clean performance this afternoon, securing a solid 7th place on the starting grid behind teams seemingly untouchable for Force India, namely Ferrari, Mercedes, and Red Bull.
Uninhibited by his convincing performance, “Checo” takes all the positives from his qualifying session: « We got the most out of the session. We made the right decisions to avoid traffic, and we had a good rhythm immediately ».
Regarding tomorrow’s race, the Mexican remains cautious: « Anything can happen in Monaco, so I’m not making any predictions. The race will be long, and we cannot afford a moment of distraction, as every mistake can lead to an accident ».
Furthermore, Pérez spared a thought for his teammate Ocon and his underperformance in the afternoon: « It’s unfortunate that Esteban couldn’t make it to Q3 with me ».
From our special correspondent in Monaco
