Esteban Ocon felt points were possible during the Monaco Grand Prix had it not been for the puncture that forced an unscheduled pit stop, just three laps after his planned stop.
The Sahara Force India F1 Team racer failed to score for the first time this season, but was ahead of Felipe Massa when the puncture occurred, and the Brazilian ended up finishing inside the points in ninth, proving that Ocon was on course for a top ten result.
Ultimately the puncture left him languishing outside the points, ultimately taking the chequered flag in twelfth, but despite this Ocon felt the VJM10 was strong but was just missing the luck to match.
“It has been a difficult day and a tough weekend overall,” said Ocon. “Things just didn’t work out for us in the race, which is a shame because we had strong pace and should have finished in the points.
“I was fighting with Felipe [Massa] in the early part of the race and we managed to undercut him during the pit stops, but then I picked up a puncture – probably from debris – and had to make an extra pit stop. That really compromised my race.
“So there was some bad luck, but I want to focus on the positives. The car felt good in clean air and the team made all the right decisions. We were just missing the luck today.”
