“This is probably our best qualifier of the year”

Esteban Ocon’s weekend is starting to clear up. During the qualifying session of the Miami Grand Prix, the Haas pilot rose in Q3, before taking ninth place on the starting grid. However, it was shot down that French people appeared a few hours earlier, after the Sprint race. Twelfth on the grid and in the same place on arrival, Ocon pointed out the too many points to improve so that the Haas can fight regularly in the points.

But at the end of the qualifying session, it was with a broad smile that the Frenchman presented himself to the media. Ninth on the starting grid, interspersed between the Ferrari de Charles Leclerc and the Red Bull by Yuki Tsunoda, Esteban Ocon qualified for the first time in the Q3 season, believing that most of the problems encountered during the Sprint race had been resolved.

“This is probably our best qualification of the year so far”, declares Ocon. “We really changed the car in terms of settings to try to improve the problems we had in the Sprint race.”

“The Sprint race was really delicate”, Add the Frenchman. “We have been faced with many problems with the car and we have overcome most. I would even say that there are still a few that we have to overcome.”

“But honestly, we have maximized the potential we have, which is really good. It is a relief for everyone, because we have gone through a lot of difficult times. With this qualification, we could not have done much more.”

“It’s very encouraging. My team of engineers has done great work. They can be proud of what we have done today.”

However, the result of Ocon contrasts enormously with the last place of his teammate Oliver Bearman during the qualifications. A contrast that we have already seen in previous rounds, where the two cars did not display the same level of performance at all.

“This is what we have to work on: our regularity. The window of our car is very, very small. And even if we try to put the cars together with the same settings, we still sometimes see big differences from one car to another. We must work on this point and be more constant. But we have projects for the next races.”

When asked what will be the goal of the Grand Prix on Sunday, Esteban Ocon answers: “We will first analyze today’s day because it was long and exhausting. But it’s good to start in the points and I hope we can bring the car home.”