Sergio Perez, Esteban Ocon, Yas Marina, 2018

Perez: Ocon quickest in qualifying but I was faster in races

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In the round-up: Sergio Perez admits his team mate had the edge on him in qualifying this year but believes he was faster than Esteban Ocon in race conditions.

What they say

Perez out-scored Ocon but took the chequered flag behind him more often than not:

I think in qualifying he probably had the upper hand although the gap between us in qualifying is less than a tenth. He was more often in front in quali than myself. But I think the gap in the race is much bigger than qualifying. In the race I thought I did the bigger difference, always on the pace, the pace was a bit stronger in the race. We were very close again but as you say I think he was just a little bit better in qualifying and I was quite a bit better in the race.

Quotes: Dieter Rencken

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Comment of the day

Tristan praises Sauber’s progress in 2018:

It really is an impressive improvement. I was expecting when it was announced Sauber wouldn’t be using Ferrari’s non-listed parts for 2018 like HAAS is that they would be much further down the order. I haven’t seen any news about Sauber using Ferrari non-listed parts for next year, but one could expect an even bigger step up if they are.

That being said it wasn’t *too* long ago that Sauber were even more competitive than this year. When their star driver Perez also left for one of the big teams and promptly fell flat. Not saying the same will happen to Leclerc, but it just goes to show the swings in F1 are wild and anything can happen.
Tristan (@Skipgamer)

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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26 comments on “Perez: Ocon quickest in qualifying but I was faster in races”

  1. (Perez) I was quite a bit better in the race.

    So Ocon spending 50% more laid ahead and finishing almost twice as often ahead is only due to his better grid position?
    Keep on dreaming, Checo.

    1. So second year behing Checo in the standings is only due to better grid position?
      Keep on dreaming, Ocon.

    2. Ocon lost two times in a row to Checo. And the only one who needs to keep dreaming (about racing in F1) is Ocon.
      But hey, qualifying is sooooooooooo important.

      1. That’s why I never considered senna a candidate for the best driver ever, he was supreme in qualifying but a bit error prone and not as good in the race.

    3. Yes it is. I would have expected that kind of comment in other sites, but here, where the race charts are presented for every race?

  2. Formula E drivers constantly saying F.E. is “harder” than F1 should be reminded they are F1 rejects. In F1 you might get 100 laps to get it all together, but if you fail to do it, your career might be over. Talk about pressure.

    It’s probably FE’s fault, because such quotes are usually published through them so they surely want people to know they are better than they actually are.

    1. I’m not convinced that being an F1 reject is a measure of ability. Would any of the current grid have done a better job than Wehrlein in the Sauber or Charles Pic in the Caterham, we’ll never know but I am doubtful. Whether you sink or swim in F1 depends on two factors, backing of a works team and/or driving a competitive car. I don’t think it’s merely coincidence that the majority of drivers who end up in the worst car also lose their seat at the end of the season.

    2. FE would likely counter that it rejects some drivers F1 accepts (although Jarno Trulli and Jacques Villenueve, both years after their prime, probably aren’t the greatest examples).

  3. JEV is the Villeneuve of Formula E.
    This is the same guy that laughed when Hartley was given a shot at STR.

  4. Verstappen is leading over Hamilton in F1s vote, the dutch come in force. Kimi is also up there ofc. no matter what the vote is about, but theres no love for the other fin.

    1. To be the first Fin you have to finish first.

  5. I agree with Checo’s qualifying assessment. Ocon is better in qualifying, but no more than one or two tenths. And that I believe is why Ocon was not an automatic choice for Merc. Checo has never beaten any teammate in qualifying and to be just 1-2 tenths faster than Checo is just not enough for any driver

    1. No, Ocon was beleived to have a safe seat at Renault which is why Bottas was signed for another year. DR announced his decision to join Renault after Bottas was confirmed for another year at Merc which is why Ocon is out of a seat and why Toto was so angry about it. If DR had confirmed before Bottas was handed another year the Icon would have that Merc seat next year.

      1. Exactly. Not sure Ocon would have had the seat though.

  6. I agree with Checo as well as with the COTD.

  7. I don’t think Perez is slow in qualy at all, actually, he is rather decent. He did beat Button 10-9, and was quite close to Hulkenberg in 2015 and 2016 (the average gap between him and Hulk in 2016 was less than a tenth). His true strength however, as he mentions, is race pace. Ocon is still overall slower than him in that aspect, but I don’t think the gap this year was as pronounced as he is claiming; Ocon improved in race pace as well, and off the top of my head, there were eight races this year (Spain, Monaco, Canada, Great Britain, Hungary, Russia, Japan and Brazil) where his pace was right up there with Perez’s, unlike last year, where he was slower almost all the time and benefitted from team orders in the second half of the season.

    1. Paul Villanueva
      23rd December 2018, 16:23

      +1

  8. JEV talks about F1 an awful lot.

  9. We were very close again but as you say I think he was just a little bit better in qualifying and I was quite a bit better in the race.

    I guess it’s just that time of the year when Perez has to talk himself up.

    “Quite a bit better in the race” .. Lol. Didn’t he spend more laps behind his teammate and even finish behind more often in the races they both finished? Doesn’t seem like a whole lot better to me.

    Honestly, if it wasn’t for Perez putting Ocon in the wall in Singapore, and Ocon’s disqualification in Spa, Ocon would have been ahead on points, and we wouldn’t even be having this conversation.

    1. Right…

      … that’s why Perez scored one point less than Ocon in the first part of the season and fourteen more in the second half.

      1. @coppilcus

        Exactly! Singapore and Spa were in the 2nd half of the season. Glad you agree.

        1. And don’t forget all those podiums brought by Ocon too!

        2. If you believe in magic, sure… Ocon would have scored how many points in Singapore? Take your magic wand and do the math. Both drivers got the rotten end of the stick in many races, not just the driver you think is the better one. Perez got punted in the first laps by other drivers in every of the first four races. Can I borrow your magic wand and calculate the points Perez lost because of those incidentes, please?!

    2. @todfod In a lot of the races where both drivers finished, Force India was applying team orders, either because of alternate strategies (the team wouldn’t allow a pass on situations where the car in front had another stop to do unless it was unavoidable), or because after Singapore it was felt necessary to avoid covering tracks with pink carbon fibre.

Comments are closed.