Assessment of the French: Ocon until the finish

10th on the starting grid, the Renault driver opted for medium tires to start the race. Quickly gaining an advantage over Pierre Gasly, Esteban Ocon returned the position to him a lap later and regained his 10th position.

Quickly pressed by his teammate equipped with hard and faster tires, he lets him pass on the team’s orders and finds himself 11th until the Virtual Safety Car on the 11th lap, which sees him pit to change his tires and switch to hard ones.

Emerging in 13th position, he quickly overtakes Giovinazzi who resists for a while.

In trouble with his tires on lap 22, Charles Leclerc, who is plummeting down the rankings, can do nothing to contain the native of Evreux who overtakes him to get back to the brink of scoring points.

Sebastian Vettel’s stop on lap 36 allows Esteban Ocon to seize the 10th position, which he will hold until the last lap of the race.

It’s by catching up with his friend Lance Stroll on the last lap that the Renault driver asserted himself with authority. On a standard braking move, the Racing Point couldn’t defend its 9th position and offered it to Esteban Ocon.

« It was a hard-fought race for us, but I’m happy with the way I finished it with the overtake on Lance [Stroll].

We fought until the end and we can be thrilled about that.

We have some things to review, it wasn’t an easy first stint and we got stuck behind several cars. Towards the end, I believe the car got a second wind and it was really fun.

I think the race tells us something about this year: we didn’t start very well, but we finished strong. We know the areas to improve.

A big thank you to all the team members, in the Enstone and Viry factories, for their hard work this season and also thank you to Daniel as a teammate. I wish him the best for his next adventure.

« I think the race tells us something about this year: we didn’t start very well, but we finished well. » Esteban Ocon