Esteban Ocon concluded his first season with Haas with an impressive seventh place in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Although the team fell back one position to P8 in the constructors’ championship, the Frenchman looks back on his debut season with the American racing team with a predominantly positive feeling.
Ocon appeared visibly satisfied in front of the cameras afterwards, although he couldn’t completely suppress a hint of disappointment. “I’m really very happy that we were able to end the season like this,” he says. “It was a strong race, the maximum we could get out of it. I fought with Fernando (Alonso, ed.) throughout the race, a tough and fair fight. There was a lot of overtaking, but in the end just not enough to catch him. It was also just not enough to gain another position in the constructors’ championship. That feels a bit double, but it was a very good final race. This gives us a strong foundation to build on next year.”
However, the 29-year-old driver remains realistic. Ocon knows that more could have been achieved this season. “Actually, we should have been performing like this in the last ten races,” the Frenchman emphasizes. “We clearly missed something and that’s what gives that double feeling. You can come up with all kinds of if-then scenarios, but they are part of such a season. This winter we are going to find out exactly what went wrong, and hopefully we will come back stronger next year.”
