Esteban Ocon highlights crucial tests

To Esteban Ocon, the start of the school year took place this Tuesday, December 3. A late student? Quite the contrary. It is with desire and excitement that the Norman has found the habit of a holder in F1 within the Renault F1 Team, with the aim of moving forward with his duties for 2020.

If the day was mainly focused on exploring the 2020 Pirelli tires in Abu Dhabi, the Frenchman and his new team aimed to quickly reconnect.

“My main objective was to quickly get back into the rhythm, confesses Ocon. It’s been a while since I’ve driven obviously. We also had to work on the big details before turning to the smaller ones, like finding a good position in the car.

It's a great feeling to be back. I was so excited for today. I've been waiting for this day for months, and it's finally here. We started to really work on details, and in the afternoon I got closer to the limit. »

If the search for the time was obviously not the heart of the subject proposed to Esteban Ocon this Tuesday, the Frenchman finished with the 8th time, achieved on C4 2020 tires. A first comparison which did not seem to disturb the former Racing Point driver.

“From what I remember of 2018, it’s not that far away, Ocon analysis on Italian tires. I'm not going to go into details. We have good data to analyze and there will be more comparisons made tomorrow.

We focused more on short runs this Tuesday than on long relays. It won't be night and day with tires, but there are differences. »

Back in a French team which ended its 2019 campaign in 5th position in the Manufacturers' ranking, Esteban Ocon does not hide having 2020 in his sights with two crucial days of testing according to the former GP3 champion.

“It will be crucial and these tests will help me a lot, because you arrive for the tests in February with an advantage, because your driving position is ready for example, explains Ocon.

I haven't had much riding time this year and we will also have fewer days in February which will be a problem. So having those two days means a lot.

The car handles well. Of course, there are many things you can improve. The engine is also something new for me. There is good power. The balance is never perfect and we must work on this point until we achieve what we expect. We have a solid foundation to work on tomorrow.

For the moment, I am listening to the team. I'm trying to understand how the RS19 works, because every car reacts differently to set-up changes. »