Esteban Ocon will be looking forward to racing in Mexico this weekend, with the Alpine driver finishing an astonishing third in FP2 on Friday.
The Frenchman enjoyed a strong session after sitting out FP1, lending his car to young Australian Jack Doohan as Alpine looked to fulfil their young driver session requirements.
“It’s been a bit of a strange Friday,” he said in reference to the disrupted Friday, with young driver sessions, tyre tests and red flags all playing a part in a hectic first day in Mexico.
“Enough, just enough,” Ocon said when asked if Alpine has managed to gather enough data from the sessions, despite the interruptions.
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“We didn’t obviously drive as much as we wanted, but I think we have enough of an understanding to have a good day tomorrow.”
A strange sound could be heard coming from the A522 during the days sessions, with many believing that the French driver was having problems, however Ocon has reassured fans that it is all under control.
“Obviously with the altitude there is a lot happening with the car but it was all under control, the turbo control is quite a big thing here so it’s apparently all normal,” he explained.
The 26-year-old will be hoping to build on his strong practice performance in the race on Sunday as he looks to make eighth spot in the driver’s championship his own going into the final run in this year.
Ocon has provided a real feel good story in Formula One, not necessarily having the financial backing of some other the other drivers, and coming back into the sport to impress after being dropped for a year by Renault in favour of a Nico Hulkenberg and Daniel Ricciardo pairing.
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The Frenchman stunningly picked up his first win last year in Hungary and goes from strength to strength, impressing more and more as the weeks go on.
Having learned from one of the masters of F1 over the past two years in Fernando Alonso, Ocon will see himself paired with fellow Frenchman Pierre Gasly next year as the AlphaTauri driver makes the switch to create an all French driver line up.
The pair have had their issues in the earlier days of their career but Ocon and Gasly have both squashed claims that there could be friction in the team next year, with their problems firmly in the past.