With Esteban Ocon finishing eighth and Daniel Ricciardo dropping out, the first race of the season wasn't exactly ideal for Renault. It seems a bit premature to put Renault forward as "best of the rest". Yet Ocon and Ricciardo think differently.
In spite of Ricciardo's failure he was remarkably positive: "Why I'm not completely desperate is because we'll be back here in a week and we'll get another chance," Ricciardo continues. "I'm optimistic that we'll have it right in seven days."
Ricciardo wasn't just optimistic against Motorsport-Total.com. He even dared to go even further: "I really believe we can have a faster car in qualifying and in the race".
Ocon rinsed in the points
Esteban Ocon drove a solid weekend after his comeback. He finished eighth, but qualified fourteenth. In qualifying there is still something to be achieved for Ocon: "We have to make it easier for ourselves by being better in qualifying on Saturday. We need to focus on improving the situation next week - and then we need to have a much better race".
Ocon also joins his teammate: "Our pace is actually much stronger." If it is up to Renault, Mclaren, Ferrari and Force India will have another competitor next weekend.