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Ocon "Itching" to Go Racing Again

09:30, 11 Mar 2018

byNicolás Quarles van Ufford

After a productive final day of testing on Friday, Force India's Esteban Ocon has said that he's 'itching' to go back out there and race.

The Frenchman will be driving his second full season for Force India in 2018 after the team secured an impressive fourth place last year iin the constructors' championship.

He managed to post the fastest time for the team of both weeks on the last day of testing, coming in at 1:18.967. This makes the team only eighth fastest on the Circuit de Catalunya, but those statistics are far from conclusive. Mercedes were only half a second faster and ended as the seventh team, even though they remain the favourites to win the title again in 2018.

As for Ocon, he'll be looking forward to the Australian Grand Prix, the place where he scored his first ever point in the F1 last year.

“It was another solid day and I feel quite confident heading to Melbourne,” said the Lotus academy product. “To complete more than 160 laps on the final day is a good achievement and ends a really solid week of work."

“We tried all our race weekend procedures today and went through the various processes we will need in Australia. We ran on several different tyre compounds and then concentrated on long runs this afternoon."

“I think we have a good idea of where we are but the real confirmation will come in Melbourne. It has been quite a long time since the last race in Abu Dhabi and I am itching to go racing again. I am really looking forward to arriving in Australia.”