Ocon's transition not so easy: 'I thought I could just do the same thing'
F1 News
- GPblog.com
Esteban Ocon was given the chance to return to Formula 1 in 2020 after being sidelined by Racing Point at the end of 2018. At Renault, however, Ocon struggled with Daniel Ricciardo as his teammate, although he has his own excuse for that.
A difficult return
Ocon entered F1 as a great talent, but has not been able to show enough in Formula 1 itself. At Racing Point he was pushed aside. Of course because of the money of Sergio Perez, but Ocon was not really convincing in that duel either. At Renault, Ocon also struggled against Ricciardo, but the Frenchman has an explanation for that.
''On my side of the garage we experimented more than before. In the past I always tried to adapt my driving style to the car, but in Formula 1 you mainly get better when you work together with the engineers on the car. But the Renault didn't work like the Mercedes or the Force India. It's just not the same,'' Ocon told Formel1.de.
Every F1 car is different
''You take a corner a bit differently and also the way we set up is different. I thought I would come back to Formula 1 and just do the same as I did with Force India, but that was not the case at all. All the cars are different.''
Ocon got to grips with the car and got better and better during the season, but did not have an easy benchmark with Ricciardo opposite him.
''We understood the car better and better and the car definitely felt very strong in Bahrain. It was clear that we went the right way there and that the development is going in the right direction,'' concludes the Frenchman, who finished second in Sakhir to secure his first podium in Formula One.