Following a strong weekend in belgium, Esteban Ocon shared his insights on what him and the team can bring this weekend at the Hungarian GP.
As Formula 1 prepares to close out the first half of the season, Esteban Ocon will be hoping to maximise results before the break.
Following the best finish of the season for Ocon and team-mate Oliver Bearman, a P5 and P7 at the Belgian GP Sprint race, the pair will be looking to replicate a similar string of results at the Hungaroring.
Sunday’s race, unfortunately, did not yield the same fortunes, and the pair were not able to capitalise on good qualifying positions. The wet weather conditions give the team another chance to extract maximum performance at this track.
Speaking in the Thursday FIA Press Conference, Ocon shared his thoughts on where the team is at as well as what is possible moving forward.
A Sprint Race to remember for Haas
The Haas driver began with a review on team performance at the Belgian GP Sprint Race. The duo of Ocon and Bearman managed to bring in a P5 and P7 finish respectively, and a haul of 16 points in total. “I think it’s been, first, a positive weekend because we really had a strong car that was able to be fighting for the point scoring zones”.
He continued, explaining, “We’ve maximised that Friday evening and Saturday morning, definitely, with the P5 finish and the P7 for Ollie. That was a really good haul of points. Unfortunately, we didn’t optimize Saturday’s quali and the race was even worse on our side.”
The driver referred to the pairs successful qualifying session that saw the two sit just within reach of points, in P11 and P12. Unfortunately, they were able to convert this, with Bearman moving up only a place into P11 and Ocon tumbling down the orderto finish in P15.
However, the driver seemed confident that despite the unfortunate results, they do have the car to execute strong races. “We know we have a quick car, but we need to align everything. That’s the most important thing and we will try and do that this weekend.”
Striving for better
Ocon went on to explain the car and the team’s capabilities going into this weekend, saying, “I’m looking forward to seeing what this car can do. Since the update, we really have been able to do a step forward in terms of where we position ourselves.”
Acknowledging the challenges the team face, he added, “Now, it’s easier said than done that we can get into the right zone. Qualifying is going to be super important, so we need to maximise that”.
Another key factor Haas will be working around is the weather, which the team have not managed to nail down in the past two wet races. Referring to the forecast around the Hungaroring, he added, “And there could be some rain again. It’s two races in a row where we didn’t maximize our strategy and where we should have ended up higher. Hopefully the third one will be the good one”, he added.
“In a good position”
The Hungarian GP marks the last race of this half of the season, and the beginning of a long break before the season resumes. Asked to give a review of the teams’s performance, Ocon said, “Going in the good direction, I would say. It hasn’t been smooth the whole time, but we were able to get some weekends where we thought, okay, that was a really strong one.”
He carried on emphasising the teams remarkable resilience and improvement since the start of the season. “We started, clearly, as the last car in Australia, and we fought back in a magnificent way. The team was able to react to certain situations in a way that I felt it was a lost cause, and that wasn’t the case.”
“It’s been great to see how much pride the team takes when we do certain results, and I’m really proud of everyone in the way we’ve been able to deliver and improve”, he continued. “We set ourselves in a good position now where it’s a tight midfield, and we need to deliver every time we are out there, and that will make the difference at the end of the year.”
Indeed Haas have managed to extract enough to place Esteban Ocon at P10 in the drivers standings, a notable feat for a midfield team.
What is possible in Hungary?
Finally, the Haas driver was asked how he viewed his chances going into the weekend. Especially given that the conditions are predicted to mirror those of the 2021 Hungarian GP where Ocon won his first F1 race. “Realistically, no“, he said. “That’s the real answer. Obviously, that opens up opportunities in this kind of weather.”
Emphasising the reality of the teams situation, he elborated, “We’ve been the last two races on the wrong side of things, not going in the right direction to move forward in the race… We’ll see how things go, but Budapest always brings interesting races.“
