Ocon aims to take advantage of “mess” in Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Esteban Ocon believes the key for Alpine to score points will be to avoid the “mess” during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

After a chaotic qualifying session which saw five drivers crash out and four red flags, Ocon expects there is more drama to come in today’s race.

“It’s a track where if you stay on track until the end then you can get a decent result,” says Ocon. “So obviously we want to be on the good side of the mess.”

Ocon believes that with so much time available to gain and lose in Baku’s difficult braking zones, drivers will be at risk of making the same mistakes in the race that many committed in qualifying.

“Compared to when I was here a couple of years ago, I think the way the car evolves, all the time that you can make up is all down to braking,” says Ocon.

“So I guess everyone was pushing the limits. At that time, there was a bit more wind as well in qualifying. To that extent, there have been many, many drivers, obviously going over that limit. It was very surprising that so many things were happening in qualifying. But for sure, things will happen tomorrow as well.”

After failing to accompany team mate Fernando Alonso into Q3, Ocon admitted he had scraped the wall on the exit of turn three which contributed to his Q2 elimination.

“I thought there was a lot better possible with the car pace that we have. Potentially a good place in Q3 was easily do-able. So I’m a bit frustrated about this session, but that’s how it goes.

“What happened exactly is that I got a bit of traffic into turn three. I hit the wall because of that in the first lap of Q2. And after that we got the red flag for the second time. So I couldn’t really go out again. It’s a shame, but here plenty of opportunities are possible.”

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