Esteban Ocon secured a sixth place finish in the Austrian Grand Prix on Sunday and says his Sahara Force India F1 Team can be pleased with their performance throughout the race at the Red Bull Ring.
The Frenchman was pleased to be able to manage his tyres throughout the race despite others up and down the pit lane suffering with blistering and unscheduled second stops to claim his fourth points finish of the season, equalling his best of the year that he achieved in the Monaco Grand Prix.
Ocon switched places with team-mate Sergio Pérez in the closing stages to allow the Mexican attack Kevin Magnussen to see if he could find a way passed the Dane, but with the Haas F1 Team driver unrelenting, the positions were switched back on the final lap to give the Frenchman sixth.
“I’m happy with this result and it’s a very good day for the team,” said Ocon. “We can be really pleased with our performance today.
“We managed our tyres well and made the one-stop race work when others around us were struggling. We kept our tyres going until the end and we also showed great teamwork with Checo as we swapped places to chase Magnussen.”
Ocon said the performance showed some of the strengths of the VJM11 and he hopes the further upgrades the team are introducing will continue to move them forward as they continue to aim for fourth place in the Constructors’ Championship for a third consecutive campaign.
“I think we showed where this team is strong,” said the Frenchman. “Hopefully the next updates will keep bringing performance to the car and we can keep the momentum going.
“The championship battle in the midfield is going to be very close until the end of the season and we need to keep pushing.”
