Ocon frustrated by his start to the weekend

Esteban Ocon experienced a difficult return to the music scene F1 taking only 14th position on the grid for the Austrian GP. The Frenchman had a disrupted start to the weekend with a series of problems on the RS20 during testing.

“This is not the result we expected, recognized the former GP3 Series champion. I'm not happy with how things are going. We could have done better. We have had some problems since the start of the weekend which have limited driving. We had a good pace on the long stints in EL2 with Daniel (Ricciardo) and we can hope for things for the race. »

“Since FP1, we have lost some aero parts on the car. Losing these items was quite serious as they damaged my rear wing, said the 23-year-old French pilot. I missed a relay and training for starts which are limited. We also lost a little time in FP2 and another problem made me lose time in FP3. In the end we missed a lot of driving and that doesn't help the overall performance for qualifying. We lacked decision-making speed in this session and we need to make progress on all that. We will progress with driving and experience. »

After a period of two years away from the circuits, Esteban Ocon, however, has no trouble getting back to his feet. The Frenchman must nevertheless accumulate runs to regain his optimal performance.

“I don’t think we forget running, it’s like cycling. I hope I haven't lost my bearings despite my long absence from competition. I don't feel rusty but I sometimes take a little more time to find my automatisms. It recovers quite quickly. We will be able to progress from one weekend to the next and I don't think the races will be the same. I think I will perform better next week”, he said.