Ocon: My 2020 progress was ‘very strong’

Finley Crebolder
Esteban Ocon podium

Esteban Ocon says that, despite being comfortably beaten by his team-mate, he is pleased with the progress he made in 2020. 

It proved to be a difficult return to the grid for Ocon as, driving alongside Daniel Ricciardo, he was the weaker of the two Renault drivers throughout the season.

On the bright side, the gap between the two was much smaller at the end of the season than it was at the start, and Ocon feels that the progress he made throughout the year was “very strong”.

“Overall the progress has been very strong, I am pretty happy with how I have ended the season in terms of pace, performance, and how we are working together with the team,” he said as per Crash.net.

“That was a lot stronger than it has been to start with, and I feel I have gained some performance and confidence in the car and that’s very good. We will make sure we are on top of the detail next year and that we are ready.”

Racing Point Renault McLaren
McLaren don't have "third of fourth quickest car" with three rounds to go.

Get your hands on the official Renault 2020 collection via the Formula 1 store 

Renault were locked in a battle with McLaren and Racing Point for P3 in the Constructors’ Championship throughout the season and ultimately lost it, finishing behind both.

Despite this, Ocon feels that there were many positives to take from the campaign and thinks that the team will be in  a strong position in 2021.

“It is a bit of a shame that we missed out on third place in the Constructors’ Championship, but there is a lot of positives to take on board this year, and things that we did not do perfectly right as well,” he added.

“So we will have a way of working for next year, but taking the positives, and cancelling the negatives, we should be in a strong position next year.”

The team will have a new look next year in many ways, with Fernando Alonso replacing Ricciardo and a rebrand taking place, with Alpine the new name of the French outfit.

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