Ocon knows where the difference with Ricciardo lies: ''That's where I lose time''
F1 News
- GPblog.com
Esteban Ocon returned to Formula 1 this season after a break of almost a year and a half and has to compete against Daniel Ricciardo. Things are going well in the race, but the Frenchman notices that he still sometimes falls short in qualifying.
Ocon in the hunt for Ricciardo
Ocon could not find a Formula 1 seat for 2019 at the end of 2018. The Frenchman had to make way for Lance Stroll at Racing Point and saw a switch to Renault go up in smoke as the team was able to bring in Ricciardo. This Australian is still with Renault in 2020 and seems to be the better of the two drivers at the moment.
''Sometimes it's very close together, but sometimes a bit further if I'm not completely comfortable with the car. It is true that for the time being it is still a difficult season for me, but that was not the case at Mugello. There I felt very good in the car and I was good in qualifying until Q3'', says Ocon according to Motorsportweek.com. However, the Frenchman went into a spin and was therefore unable to set a good time in the final qualifying session.
Setup adjustments for Ocon
In the first nine qualifying sessions, Ricciardo was faster than Ocon on eight occasions but that seems to be bigger than the gap really is. The average difference between the drivers is only 0.273 seconds. The same difference as Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton, who everyone says are pushing each other to the maximum.
''The difference is in the choices we make in terms of setup. Sometimes I just lose an enormous amount of time on the straight and now we have discussions about how to fix that. I was close to Daniel all weekend in terms of pace, so that's something I have to do on other weekends too'', concludes Ocon, who saw his race ended due to overheating brakes.