Esteban Ocon was happy to qualify eighth on the grid for the Canadian Grand Prix on Saturday and was full of praise for his mechanics for giving him such a good car.
The Sahara Force India F1 Team racer will line-up on the fourth row of the grid alongside Renault Sport Formula One Team’s Nico Hülkenberg, but Ocon was pleased to see the VJM11 get stronger and stronger all weekend long, with big positive steps being made overnight by those in the garage.
“I’m happy to finish in eighth today,” admitted Ocon. “I had a fantastic feeling with the car and we’ve been getting better with each session.
“The work last night and in final practice really paid off and we took big steps forward in the build-up to qualifying. So I have to say a big ‘thank you’ to the team because we are really making good progress with this car.”
Ocon feels the race pace of the VJM11 should be stronger than its pace in Qualifying so the aim on Sunday will be to get ahead of Hülkenberg at the bare minimum to ensure some good points for Force India.
“I think there is all to play for tomorrow: we are often stronger with race pace so the job tomorrow is to try and get ahead of Hulkenberg and bring home some big points,” said the Frenchman.
