The best weekend of Esteban Ocon’s young career

Ocon, the cake without the cherry (sixth)

Appetite comes with eating for the French. Only a year after moving up to the top category, Esteban Ocon has certainly shifted into a higher gear. On his best overall performance in a Formula 1 weekend, the 20-year-old is almost disappointed with his good result at the finish. (he has already finished fifth in Spain)

« I really enjoyed this race. I am both satisfied with our performance, but also a bit disappointed because I really wanted to finish on the podium. I’m hungry for that! But we have to be realistic: we didn’t have the pace to compete with the Mercedes or the Ferraris. So I think sixth place is the maximum we could achieve. »

Le Normand delivered a flawless performance by basing his strategy on a one-stop plan, switching to soft tires at the end of the 16th lap until the finish. On the track, he got past Stroll at the very first corner of the start, securing a flattering second place behind Hamilton. However, he was subsequently overtaken by Bottas’s Mercedes and Vettel’s Ferrari.

The battle was a bit more straightforward against Räikkönen (overtaken by the Finn on the 25th lap) and Stroll, whom he kept in his rear-view mirrors throughout the 53 laps of the race.

I thought we could keep him behind (talking about Räikkönen). But he was just too fast! I also had a nice battle with Stroll for a big part of the race. It took a lot of hard work to keep him behind me.

Through strategy, he also lost a position to Daniel Ricciardo’s Red Bull.

But nevertheless, the Mercedes protégé brings eight points in the bag and wins the honorary title of “best of the rest,” behind the three big teams.

And at the world championship, he is only three points behind his teammate. The battle is more open than ever!

A great weekend, ending up with a P6 at the #ItalianGP! We couldn’t get the podium but it was the best possible today 🙂! #EO31 👍🏽👍🏽 pic.twitter.com/vvfddSXS7G — Esteban Ocon (@OconEsteban) 3 September 2017

Pérez couldn’t make up for the lost time (ninth)

The Mexican certainly doesn’t have as many headaches on this post-race Monday. After burying the hatchet in global broadcast with his teammate, the Mexican led a frustrating race.

The blame mainly lies with the traps of the qualifying session, which put him on a bad tire strategy. While the trend was towards intermediates at the end of Q2, Checo first fitted rain tires, a choice that did not pay off.

Mystery of the current system in Formula 1, he managed the feat of starting one place higher than expected, after receiving a five-place penalty for a gearbox change.

The abandonment was not far off right from the start for the former Sauber driver, who drove over debris in the second corner of the first lap. A slight slow puncture slowed his pace. However, he was able to stop on the 32nd lap, opting for soft tires, until the finish.

The strategy shift proved beneficial as he caught up with the Williams duo at the very end of the race, Stroll ahead of Massa. He still needed at least one more lap. Sergio Pérez will have to settle for a ninth place.

« I would first like to thank my team who changed my gearbox in time. It was a difficult weekend for me, considering my difficulties on Friday and missing Q3 made the race much more challenging. »

The car behaved well: I was strong in the first stint, despite some damage picked up in the second corner. Things were actually more difficult after the race. We had a rather slow pit stop and I got stuck in traffic. I lost a few seconds there, which made the difference in the end. We missed a few laps to pass them (pointing to the two Williams cars).

« Maybe I could have made it with two more laps. Although I expected more, we saved a few points and I am therefore happy with this result.

Great job from all my team changing the gearbox 1 hour before the race! We were penalized but we managed to get 2 good points. See u in 🇲🇽! pic.twitter.com/Hi2lkf2Zkg — Sergio Pérez (@SChecoPerez) 3 septembre 2017

A small subtle piece of information, however: with now a 322-point deficit to Mercedes, the Silverstone firm can no longer be crowned in the constructors’ championship. It will undoubtedly have a few more internal concerns by the finale at the end of November in Abu Dhabi…