Ocon ‘can’t wait’ for Istanbul Park’s Turn 8

Finley Crebolder
Esteban Ocon

Esteban Ocon to drive Alpine A110S in Monte Carlo rally.

Esteban Ocon is looking forward to his first Turkish Grand Prix. Specifically, he can’t wait to drive the iconic Turn 8 for the first time.

Istanbul Park is widely considered to be one of the best Formula 1 tracks built this century, so fans and drivers alike are excited for the first race there in over a decade.

Arguably the most popular part of it is its long, fast, multi-apex Turn 8, one of the biggest challenges in an F1 car. Considering Ocon was 15 the last time the sport went there, he’s never faced said challenge himself, and can’t wait to do so.

“Istanbul Park is a new track for me as I’ve never raced there before,” he said.

“I watched all the races when I was younger, and it looks a very impressive track. I remember some awesome racing moments there such as Michael and Fernando at the finish line on the last lap in 2006.

“It has some very cool corners and it’s a fast and busy lap. It should be exciting in these modern cars. Turn 1 is a downhill corner and it’s quite blind approaching it. There are a number of medium to high-speed corners, and it all flows nicely.

“Then there’s Turn 8, the triple left-hander. It looked an impressive corner in the old cars, and I think this year it’s going to be even better. I can’t wait to give that a go.

“Usually on fast tracks, we have decent speed, so I think it’s going to be an awesome one to drive and to race with overtaking definitely possible on the straights.”

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Due to the COVID-19 affected schedule, it won’t be the first rack this season Ocon is to make his debut on at short notice.

However, as there are three practice sessions for it unlike in Imola and Germany, he’s expecting the learning process to be a little easier.

“I’ve been doing some training on my home simulator to learn the track,” the Renault man added.

“There are going to be some challenges such as the elevation changes and blind corners. It’s been resurfaced recently, and we have the harder compound of tyres, like in Portugal, so there could be some low grip during the early part of the weekend.

“We have limited data to prepare, but we’re back to a normal Friday, so it should be easier to get right than in Imola or Nürburgring. It’s going to be interesting again.

“We should be in decent shape like we have been recently, and we go there in good form and ready to perform again. I want to put some of the bad luck behind me and go there targeting a good result.”

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Esteban Ocon

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