Interview with Esteban Ocon

26.11.14

Having won the 2014 FIA European Formula 3 Championship with a round to spare, beating the likes of Max Verstappen and Tom Blomqvist, Esteban Ocon has been picking up as much experience of F1 machinery as possible over the past few months.

Ocon’s first taste of F1 machinery was a 2012 Lotus at the end of October, followed shortly by a day spent driving an F10 around Fiorano. Over the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix weekend the 18-year-old Frenchman took part in FP1 for the Lotus team, and he rounded off his F1-heavy 2014 with a morning spent driving for Lotus in the post-season test. After his morning’s running, Ocon sat down with FIA.com for an exclusive chat.

And how did he enjoy himself on Wednesday morning at Yas Marina? Running in the test was “much easier [than on Friday morning in FP1], because I was more used to the car and I had more time to discover the limits,” he said. “For sure it’s much easier - we saw it on the data, and I had less of a margin compared to in practice.

“Unfortunately we had a problem and we couldn’t really complete all of the programme that was planned, but we still achieved good things. It was a good test, and I’m quite happy about that. The team were really happy with what I said [in debrief], what I did while driving. If they’re happy, I’m happy too.”

What about the car itself? Having had more experience of running 2010 and 2012 F1 cars than any of the current models, was it hard to adapt to the power delivery of the hybrid units?

“I was expecting that, but after the first lap it was fine - I was adapting really quickly and I got used to it,” Ocon asserted. “I think F3 is a really good school because the car is really fast in corners. The 2012 car is just an F3 with power, the old version of Formula One. This one is a bit different, it’s a bit more difficult to drive. There’s less grip, and it’s faster on the straights, so for sure it’s a different driving style, but it’s just a matter of adapting.

But what about the brake-by-wire systems that proved to be so tricky for experienced F1 pilots in the early part of the season? “That was alright, that was alright. I didn’t really feel it was that weird. I adapted quickly, and it was okay.”

One of the challenges of a half-day testing programme is ensuring that the car is handed over to the afternoon driver in one piece. Does the knowledge that someone else will be taking over in a few hours mean you refrain from pushing, from driving on the limit?

“I drive normally,” Ocon said. “I didn’t crash at all this year, maybe twice in the race, so… If I didn’t crash in the season, why would I do it now? I took things step by step - for sure it’s not good to crash the car - and I was thinking about it a bit, but I pushed like I normally do, I drove like I normally do.”