Summary of the French: Ocon 6th and Gasly 7th, a remarkable double entry in the points!

Esteban Ocon (Force India): 6th

8 points at once! The best Frenchman of the day has changed the course of his season by securing the position of best of the rest in Monaco, the same spot he held on the starting grid. “It’s a fantastic result!” said the main person involved, beaming as he got out of the car. “I am really happy, it was a fun race.”

And for good reason. Right from the start, Ocon bared his teeth by pulling alongside Bottas’s Mercedes in front of him, without attacking it. During his first stint, the gap with the Finn never exceeded 10 seconds. Car number 31 then stopped on lap 23 to put on a set of super-softs. The right choice, given Lewis Hamilton’s difficulties with his ultra-soft tires.

The pace we had was impressive and the team did a fantastic job strategy-wise, summarizes the former Manor driver. We understood the tires very well and there were moments when we were the fastest car on track!

Words illustrated by his performance at the end of the race: Esteban Ocon surged like a bullet into the top five. He finished only 4.8 seconds behind Bottas after 78 laps and 23.6 seconds behind the winner, Daniel Ricciardo. The Frenchman filled up while Sergio Pérez, in 12th, was delayed in the pits during his tire change. “I’m really thrilled to get this result after some disappointing races. I hope we’ll have more weekends like this one!” the young man concluded.

In the championship, Esteban Ocon is now in 13th position, one place behind his teammate. Thanks to him, Force India gains three points on Renault in the famous battle for the fourth place in the constructors’ standings.

Fantastic weekend P6 today, Monaco I love you ❤️!
Weekend fantastique P6 aujourd’hui, Monaco je t’aime ❤️! #EO31 #monacogp pic.twitter.com/HIm6EVB4bE

— Esteban Ocon (@OconEsteban) May 27, 2018

Pierre Gasly (Toro Rosso): 7th

Here’s the other great satisfaction on the French side! The 2016 GP2 champion had a slow start to the weekend. Everything became clear after a setup change before FP3. After qualifying in 10th place, Pierre Gasly made an impression in the race with an impressive 41-lap stint on his starting hyper-softs. Even better, the Red Bull protégé was lapping faster than Ricciardo and Vettel after their own tire changes.

« It was an incredible weekend! It was the perfect race to score points », rejoices the Rouen native.

Regarding the tires, Pierre Gasly didn’t seem very delighted: during the free practice, the degradation seemed massive! But his economical driving worked wonders.

« I tried to take care of my tires for as long as possible, being as gentle as possible in my corner exits and re-acceleration. Once the others went to the pits, I attacked!

It’s difficult to gain two places in Monaco (*editor’s note: three with Alonso’s retirement*). The car was perfect, I was comfortable attacking.

After the attack, Pierre Gasly also had to defend at the end of the race against the onslaughts of Nico Hülkenberg. But the Toro Rosso driver had an answer for everything. « I stayed focused on Esteban in front. I was worried during the VSC, my tires dropped in temperature. In fact, I wasn’t good at management until my second year in GP2. After that, I changed my approach… It paid off today: I am confident right now! »

This seventh place marks Pierre Gasly’s second points finish in eleven races.

Romain Grosjean (Haas F1 Team): 15th

More disappointing race for the third Frenchman in the running. Starting 18th after receiving his three-place penalty, the former Lotus driver dropped to 20th by the end of the first lap. He recovered 18th place after the misfortunes of the two Williams drivers and gained three places after Alonso’s retirement and the collision between Leclerc and Hartley. “It was a difficult race. We struggled, without finding the rhythm,” the American team’s driver admits laconically.

Unfortunately, nothing crazy happened in this race, we have always been in a difficult position. But we should have a good car in Canada. Helpless throughout the weekend, his first points of the season are still waiting, six races after the kickoff in Melbourne.

From our special correspondent in Monaco