Esteban Ocon admits there is uncertainty about travel arrangements heading into the 2021 Formula 1 season, with the coronavirus pandemic still having a huge effect on day-to-day life across the globe.
Formula 1 operated in a safety bubble throughout their heavily rescheduled 2020 campaign that took in seventeen races across Europe and the Middle East, and similar restrictions are likely to be in place when the season gets underway.
The twenty-four-year-old Frenchman, who will race for the renamed Alpine F1 Team in 2021 alongside the returning Fernando Alonso, says he will be prioritising getting his fitness levels back up to the levels they were prior to the 2020 season during the next couple of months.
And Ocon knows he will need to be alert and aware of social distancing if he is to remain free of COVID-19 symptoms during the off-season that could possibly hinder his preparations.
“I’m not sure with the pandemic what I’m going to do,” Ocon is quoted as saying by GPFans.com. “For sure there will be a high period of training, I need to catch the weight I lost during the season and get my fitness level back up again.
“I don’t know what’s going to be the plan after that. But it’s a bit tricky to travel at the moment in Europe. We are not going to be tested that much but we don’t want to be sick and lose 15 days and feel unwell.”
Ocon goes into his second season with the team, formally known as the Renault DP World F1 Team, aiming for a better year than he had in 2020, although he did secure his maiden podium finish with a second-place finish in the Sakhir Grand Prix.
