Ocon: ‘Really pleased with our performance’

Esteban Ocon has said that the whole Force India team can be “really pleased” with a P6 and P7 finish in the Austrian Grand Prix on Sunday afternoon.

Ocon came home in P6, with Sergio Perez just behind the Frenchman, as Force India scored their first double points finish of the season.

“I’m happy with this result and it’s a very good day for the team,” Ocon said. “We can be really pleased with our performance today.”

The Frenchman was one of the drivers who managed to make the one-stop work around the Red Bull Ring on Sunday afternoon.

“We managed our tyres well and made the one-stop race work when others around us were struggling,” he continued.

“We kept our tyres going until the end and we also showed great teamwork with Checo [Perez] as we swapped places to chase [Kevin] Magnussen.”

Ocon let his team-mate through, as the Mexican was on much fresher tyres, to chase down the Haas. However, as it became apparent that Perez could not get into the top five, they swapped back on the last lap to give Ocon P6 once more.

The Frenchman believes that despite the poor start to the season for the team, they can chase down their midfield rivals in the battle for the ‘best of the rest’ title.

“I think we showed where this team is strong. Hopefully the next updates will keep bringing performance to the car and we can keep the momentum going,” Ocon added.

“The championship battle in the midfield is going to be very close until the end of the season and we need to keep pushing.”