Esteban Ocon kept out of trouble as he felt he ‘built up our speed’ during the two practice sessions on Thursday for the Monaco Grand Prix.
The Frenchman admits it was hard to find the right set-up around the Circuit de Monaco but that does not make it any less special to drive.
“It’s always awesome to drive here,” said Ocon. “It’s a special track and very technical, which makes it complicated to find the right set-up.”
Times plummeted throughout the day with Daniel Ricciardo breaking the track record and Ocon found seven-tenths of a second between the morning and afternoon sessions but was still marginally behind Sahara Force India F1 Team team-mate Sergio Pérez.
“The track evolved a huge amount during the day and you have to adapt to the conditions and not go over the limit,” said the Frenchman.
Ocon had an incident in Monaco last year and was getting up close to the barriers again this time around but without any major consequences. Confidence is key around Monaco and the Frenchman knows he has to keep building his ahead of qualifying on Saturday afternoon.
“I kissed the wall gently this morning, but there were no other dramas and we built up our speed with each run,” said Ocon. “It’s all about getting your confidence up before Saturday and it was important to keep out of trouble.”
