Esteban Ocon said his failure to reach Q3 was down to a car problem as well as a mistake of his own.
“Basically there was two things,” said the Force India driver. “I was losing some straight line speed so we have to see if it’s a bit of an engine problem or something else on the car.
“And second thing, at the last corner – I just don’t know – there was less grip compared to my other runs and I lost the rear in the last corner so I lost also some time there.“So there was two things that make a big margin at the end so I would have gone through.”
Ocon estimated the lack of top speed cost him around a tenth of a second.
“We have to calculate how much it was but if there is a bit of straight line speed which is not good when the field is so tight like that… of course you want everything you can when the margins are like that.”
His team mate Sergio Perez made it into Q3 and will start eighth. Ocon said he would rather have qualified higher but his lower starting position bring a strategic advantage.
“The positive of that is I will have new tyres to start the race and free choice of which compound I want to start with. With higher track [temperature] like there will be tomorrow it’s going to be a big advantage, I reckon.”
2018 F1 season
- McLaren staff told us we were “totally crazy” to take Honda engines in 2018 – Tost
- ‘It doesn’t matter if we start last’: How Red Bull’s junior team aided Honda’s leap forward
- Honda’s jet division helped F1 engineers solve power unit problem
- McLaren Racing losses rise after Honda split
- Ricciardo: Baku “s***show” was Red Bull’s fault
Phylyp (@phylyp)
14th April 2018, 12:05
Very stand-up of him to accept his mistake.
Sravan Krishnan (@sravan-pe)
14th April 2018, 12:26
This guy has the maturity to go with his inherent speed
Serkan (@serkank)
14th April 2018, 21:12
He is both talented and mature. Considering the rivalry they had in F3, he and Verstappen would make quite an interesting pairing at the Red Bull if Ricciardo leaves next year.
Illusive (@illusive)
15th April 2018, 5:33
Force India says they still haven’t gotten hold of their balance issues, ao there is more improvements to come in the car. It’s a good midfield with good drivers except for Williams.